“I had a couple of days with Pharrell, so we did a couple of songs, one of which is on the album: “I Was Gonna Cancel.” If you’ve heard anything that I’ve been saying [recently], you might know a little bit about that song. I was having one of those days…just one of those days. The kind of day where, let’s say there’s someone at the shop or there’s a cab driver or whoever, someone with whom you can keep your game face on — but say your friend or your family or someone you like asks you how you are, and you might fall to pieces.
Well, that’s pretty much what happened with Pharrell. I was on my way to the studio, just saying to myself in my mind, “Come on, you can do this. Just get through this next day. You can fall apart at the end of the day. Don’t fall apart now.” And the first person I saw when I walked into the studio was Pharrell. And there were a lot of people around, but Pharrell was the first person I saw, so go figure. He says, “Hey, how are you?”
It was a simple question, but a complex answer. Anyway, I couldn’t hold it together. I had a teary moment, which he very graciously talked me through. Aside from that little story, he was great to work with. Very chilled, getting on with stuff, creating the track there in the moment. We didn’t spend too long on vocals. I thought I sounded terrible because I’d just been [crying], so I probably didn’t have the clearest voice. But I don’t even mind hearing that on the track because it was such a real and true moment.”