Gracie Abrams Says ‘Hit the Wall’ Became the ‘North Star’ for Her ‘Daughter From Hell’ Album & Yet ‘I Don’t Remember Writing It’

Gracie Abrams didn’t exactly know what Daughter From Hell was going to become when she wrote “Hit the Wall.” As it turned out, the song would actually help her figure it out, and ultimately introduced the album that would earn her first No.

1 on the Billboard 200 .

During a recent appearance on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast, Abrams vulnerably talked about the circumstances surrounding the creation of “Hit the Wall,” revealing that the song became the “north star” of her third studio album.

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She said there wasn’t much “glue” connecting the different pieces of the project, and it just felt incohesive.

It left both her and Dessner feeling somewhat discouraged about where the album was headed.

“I think he and I were both sort of feeling a bit discouraged at that point,” Abrams said, recalling that they weren’t sure what the album was supposed to encompass, sound like, or talk about.

They didn’t even know if they would make the pop star’s next album together.

That uncertainty coincided with a particularly difficult day for Abrams.

She was feeling lonely and missing a friend “in a big way” as she made her way to the studio in New York.

“I was really sad going to the studio that morning,” she remembers.

“You know when you’re [in New York], it’s the best here, and the kind of … when you’re quite sad or you feel very lonely and you walk [around] and the tears just are happening?” Abrams said she was walking down Bleecker Street while crying when she finally arrived at the studio.

Dessner had gotten there a couple of hours earlier, and when Abrams opened the door, the beginning of “Hit the Wall” was playing.

Just the piano chords were enough to immediately resonate with her.