Summer Cover Star Gracie Abrams Talks New Music and Her Acting Debut

After four years of non-stop touring, Gracie Abrams didn’t expect that new music would come to her so quickly, but she is coming back with the new album Daughter From Hell, out July 17, and is Vogue’s June cover star. 

“You don't realize how your nervous system is kind of like running until you stop,” says Abrams as she discusses her latest album and cover shoot with Senior Features Editor Marley Marius and Global Director of Social Media Samantha Sussman on Vogue’s The Run Through Podcast.

“So, I had no plans in this case to jump in as quickly as we ended up doing it. But my collaborator, producer, and dear friend Aaron Dessner, who I've worked with for six years now… he has superpowers,’ says Abrams. “And whenever we're in the same room, even if I do feel like silent to my core, whenever he starts playing something, it sparks my imagination.” 

While working on the album at Electric Lady Studios in New York, Abrams says the first single ‘Hit the Wall’ came to her through intervention from a spirit. “I was a little bit late to the studio, which I'm very prompt and I was kind of having, just like an emotionally confused morning” says Abrams. 

“Do you know when you sometimes wake up and you feel as if you're being haunted by a spirit? Or like a relative who's no longer [alive] … Do you ever feel the energy as if someone's got their hands on your shoulders? Do you ever feel like you're wearing a little cape on your shoulders?” asks Abrams. “I kind of just felt like weighed down when I was walking to the studio and I started tearing up. And it was at this period where I wasn't crying very much. And I was like, ‘Something's blocking me, like what is going on?’” 

Abrams says once she heard a loop of what would later become Hit the Wall, all the pieces started coming together. “I very quickly felt like the sound exactly matched that hands-on-shoulders-cape feeling … And it was a nice place to put all of these, not like self-deprecating thoughts, but just all of the dark cloud energy into one place. And then when I was done with it, it made me feel like a teenager again, where I would write something and then … yield.” 

Also on today’s episode, Chloe sits down with Marley and Samantha to discuss the news from over the weekend including the Tony wins and Dua Lipa’s Italian wedding. They also talk about the American Style shoot that is part of the summer issue and listen to voice memos from two enthusiastic finalists. 

The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews.

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