Abigail Barlow on “Heartbreak Hotel” and her new EP

If you haven’t heard the lyrics, “I don’t need a boyfriend, that shit’s full time employment,” then you probably have been living under a rock. That’s the first line of the uber-catchy song Heartbreak Hotel written by Abigail Barlow. She posted a video of the song with the caption, “I can’t sleep so I wrote something new.” It has over a million likes on TikTok.

Crowdsurfer: So let’s start with Heartbreak Hotel. It totally blew up on Tiktok with almost 4 million views! What inspired you to write the song?
Abigail Barlow: I wrote Heartbreak Hotel after meeting and casually talking to a dude that was buying me gifts, and I got a lil scared. Heartbreak Hotel was just inspired by my trust issues and how I’m simply not ready for a potential heartbreak any time soon LOL. 
CS: What was your reaction to it taking over Tiktok?
AB: Seeing comments that said “This is a hit release it now” was pretty overwhelming but SO insanely cool. It felt like the internet just sort of rallied and said “okay this is what we’re doing right? Let’s blow this song up!” And I couldn’t be more grateful for that. 

CS: Who are your musical influences? Who would you love to collab with one day?
AB: I don’t really like comparing myself to other artists, but because I produce a lot of my own stuff, I love talking about my musical and sound influences. I love the Max Martin era 2010 pop that dominated the radio waves a few years ago. I miss the era of Teenage Dream and 1989 SO much that I decided to sprinkle my music production with all the good old bubblegum pop vibes I could. If I could collab with one person it would definitely be Max Martin.
CS: Tell us about your EP coming out on August 14th. What songs will we get to hear and what’s the vibe of it?

AB: The vibe is pop. Purposeful, playful pop. I don’t take my music or myself too seriously, and I think that’s what makes it so fun to listen to. The bad b*tch inside your head gets a moment to speak up on my EP! And I give you a little taste of everything with the tracks, including an absolute BANGER I had the pleasure of writing with Meghan Trainor!
CS: Anything else you want to share with us?

AB: I’m just so beyond thrilled to finally be releasing music the way I want, and I just want to encourage any aspiring indie artists to do the same. It is TOTALLY possible for all of your dreams to come true. So do not ever give up on yourself or your art.  

You can follow Abigail on TikTok here and Instagram here, and keep an eye out because her EP comes out on August 14th!