Gracie Abrams on Paul Mescal: "He's Shown Me Myself in Ways I Never Expected"

Gracie Abrams has opened up to Rolling Stone about how her relationship with Irish actor Paul Mescal has shaped her songwriting, using the interview to walk back a widely misread comment from an earlier Vogue profile. The conversation follows the July 2026 release of her album Daughter From Hell.

Clearing up the Vogue quote

In that earlier Vogue interview, Abrams said she'd worried that being in a stable relationship might dull her creative drive — a line that got picked up and read by some outlets as her suggesting her career was somehow threatened by Mescal. She pushed back directly in the new interview: "I was like, what are we talking about? That interview reminded me why I shouldn't look at social media."

She said Mescal has actually given her "so much room to reflect on everything" in her life, describing the relationship as having "shown me myself in ways I never expected" — touching past relationships, family dynamics, and the nature of friendship. She called it, without exception, "the biggest gift."

Mescal's role on "Imaginary Friend"

Abrams also revealed that Mescal worked with her directly on "Imaginary Friend," a track from Daughter From Hell. "It's not that big of a deal — we're just a musical household, there's always something brewing," she said. "I'm lucky that who he is, and the way he thinks, is inspiring to me."

The album and the noise around it

Daughter From Hell came out in July 2026. NME gave it three stars, praising its introspective core while noting some tracks lean a bit heavy in execution. Separately, The National's Aaron Dessner has publicly addressed speculation that Abrams' song "Death Wish" is connected to Taylor Swift, stirring a fresh round of chatter online.

What we don't know yet

The source interview doesn't specify further tour plans, additional collaborators on the album, or details of Dessner's comments on "Death Wish" beyond confirming he responded publicly.