Gracie Abrams Feels “Lucky” to Find Songwriting Inspiration in Paul Mescal

Gracie Abrams has discussed the impact her boyfriend, actor Paul Mescal, has had on her music and creative process.

Abrams and Mescal were seen publicly together for the first time at the Gladiator 2 premiere in November 2024. They confirmed their relationship the following year.

While speaking with Vogue recently, Abrams admitted she had been “worried” that finding stability with Mescal could potentially start “threatening [her] drive to write music”.

In a fresh conversation with Rolling Stone, the singer explained what she had meant. Abrams said she was taken aback when some people understood the remark as a suggestion that Mescal had left her entire career feeling “threatened”.

“I’m like, ‘Are we on crack? Like, what the fuck? That was my cue to be like, ‘Oh, remember why you don’t look [at social media]?’” she said.

Abrams explained that Mescal “had the most amazing effect on my writing,” adding that he has allowed her “the most amount of space to reflect on everything in my life.”

She continued: “It has held a mirror to me in ways that I didn’t know a relationship with another person of any kind could. It has given me all the perspective that I could have ever hoped for, on previous relationships, on my relationship with my family, on my friendships. It is the greatest gift, period.”

Abrams also revealed that Mescal contributed to ‘Imaginary Friend’, a song featured on her latest record, ‘Daughter From Hell’, which arrived last month.

She explained: “It wasn’t some extraordinary event. We’re a very musical household, and so there’s always something brewing … I feel lucky to be generally inspired by him as a person and by his brain.”

NME gave ‘Daughter From Hell’ a three star review, writing: “‘Daughter From Hell’ is meant to be a reflection, so it’s fitting that the title track serves as an apology to Abrams’ parents for terrorising them as a teenage tearaway. It’s a shame that it ends up feeling plodding and dirgey, the slow, distorted guitar making it feel more torturous than enlightened.

“Perhaps that in itself is a reflection – that, at 26, Abrams still, as we all do, has more growing to do.”

In other news, Aaron Dessner of The National recently addressed speculation over whether Abrams’ track ‘Death Wish’ was written about Taylor Swift.