Ashe and Niall Horan have hard lessons to learn on their new collaboration.
Earlier this week, the singers came together for an emotional duet rendition of “Moral of the Story.” The bittersweet record, produced by FINNEAS and Noah Conrad, finds the pair singing about their shared experiences with disappointment and heartbreak while helping each other get over a one-sided romance. Together, they learn to overcome the sadness of losing a once-beautiful relationship.
“Some mistakes get made/ That's alright, that's okay/ You can think that you're in love/ When you're really just in pain/ Some mistakes get made/ That's alright, that's okay/ In the end, it's better for me/ That's the moral of the story, babe,” Ashe and Horan croon in the melancholic chorus over bluesy, single-note piano rhythms and a dark, thumping beat.
“Moral of the Story” is as much a dream sonically as it was to create. When responding to a fan’s comment about working with Ashe for the somber track, the former One Direction member replied, “She’s the f—king best. Love her. We’ve become friends because of it.”
The vulnerable song originally appeared on Ashe’s second EP, 2019’s Moral of the Story: Chapter 1, and rose to popularity after soundtracking the Netflix teen rom-com, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
“Moral of the Story” is Horan’s latest collaboration since teaming up with Julia Michaels for “What a Time” in 2019. It's also the first duet he's released since dropping his sophomore studio album, Heartbreak Weather, earlier this year.
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