Pop stars Gracie Abrams and Olivia Rodrigo reunited for a Spotify conversation, posted on Tuesday (7 July), in which they discussed their long friendship and their shared craft of songwriting. The exchange matters because Abrams used it to reflect publicly on how her approach to writing about people has changed, admitting she was "careless in the past" and now wants to be honest without being cruel — a notable shift ahead of her new album.

Abrams' third album, Daughter From Hell, is due out roughly nine days after the video, following her breakout second LP The Secret of Us, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. She said she now writes about conflict from the perspective of both "protagonist and antagonist" rather than pointing fingers, and described the record's only straightforward love song, "Afflictions" — praised by Rodrigo — as deeply personal, likely referencing her roughly two-year relationship with actor Paul Mescal. The pair have been close since connecting on Instagram years ago, with Abrams opening for Rodrigo on the 2022 Sour Tour.