Brett Eldredge Premieres New Single ‘Gabrielle’ And Reflects On Journey To New Music

Brett Eldredge is premiering his new single “Gabrielle” today (4/17), which will appear on his upcoming album, Sunday Drive. The single, written by Eldredge, Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, is a bittersweet song in which the singer looks back on a relationship, remembering vivid scenes of the good times, but also wondering what led to the relationship’s end.

“Oh, was it your heart or mine? Was it just the wrong time? Gabrielle,” Eldredge sings in the chorus. “We never got very far, but girl wherever you are I wish you well, Gabrielle.”

While the song does see Eldredge ruminating on what could have been done differently in the relationship, it is ultimately a message about moving forward and wishing the other person well. This notion is set to uptempo, hopeful instrumentation featuring an upright piano, which Eldredge surmises is about 100 years old, and cheerful acoustic guitar. And while Eldredge declined to comment on whether the song was inspired by someone named Gabrielle, he did say that the song came from an honest place.

“It is a real story,” he told reporters in a recent interview. “It’s kind of a break up song, but bittersweet, happy, and wishing the other person well within their life wherever they are. But, you still kind of look back and often wonder what that person’s up to, where they are now, what could have been and what if. It’s one of those kinds of songs — the nostalgia of that.”

That theme of honesty continues with two additional tracks Eldredge is releasing today. These tracks include “Crowd My Mind,” which is a nostalgic, piano-driven ballad about not being able to shake the memory of someone, and “Where The Heart Is,” which Eldredge calls the “mission statement of this album” and finds the singer on a journey of self-discovery.

All three songs and the upcoming album are the product of a time of self-reflection in Eldredge’s life that began when the former social media king took a step away from the spotlight in early 2019. This journey took Eldredge to a beach cottage in California where he was alone with nothing but a flip phone and a pen. It also took him to Chicago, where he recorded the album with the city as his inspiration. That journey, Eldredge says, led him to some of the most personal music of his career.

“Honestly, it changed me,” Eldredge says of his break from the spotlight. “It changed the way I look at how I create and how vulnerable I get. I’ve been very vulnerable over the last couple of years compared to ever before, and I learned just how much farther I can go into it, and tried to just share myself and share my heart and how empowering that can be. Self-awareness is incredible for me now and figuring out who I am. It’s a lifelong journey, but I am in a great spot for it, and still have a long way to go, but this process definitely changed my life.”

Brett Eldredge’s Sunday Drive is out July 10.