Tenille Townes Teams Up With Bryan Adams

Born from a chance encounter in a stairwell, “The Thing That Wrecks You,” brings reigning CCMA Entertainer of the Year Tenille Townes and GRAMMY Award winner Bryan Adams together on a vocal performance that matches the energy of the song’s lyrics, describing the moment love careens headfirst towards heartbreak. (Listen above)

“I was recording a song for a Hallmark Movie in Vancouver last summer and found myself completely enamored by the recording space we were in,” remembers Townes. “Later in the day, I found out that it was Bryan Adams’ Warehouse Studio, and I actually ran into Bryan himself on the staircase on my way out. We talked for just a few minutes, and I was so happy to meet him because his path as a fellow Canadian has been incredibly inspiring to me, with a collection of songs that have impacted the world in such a huge way.

“Later that night, I thought about ‘The Thing That Wrecks You,’ a song I’d written a while before with Kate York and Daniel Tashian, and how the spirit of that song made me think about his voice,” she continues. “I decided to go out on a limb and sent him the song along with a letter asking if he might be up for singing on it with me. Fast forward to now, where not only have I gotten to sing with a hero of mine, but I have also found a mentor and friend through this whole adventure. This song is evidence to me that putting a wild thought out in the atmosphere and believing in it is a powerful thing.”

Just shy of four minutes, the track produced by Townes and her band’s guitarist, Jaxon Hargrove, was recorded with her touring band joining her in-studio as well as with Adams adding his own guitar prowess to the song alongside his vocals. Trading opening lines, the pair come together for a stirring duet on the chorus:

We’re running down a darker road
Where even angels fear to go
And stars fall like a lonely tear
When they’re crashing through the atmosphere
It looked just like a dream come true
But love can lead you straight into
The thing that wrecks you

The song offers a preview at new music from Townes, whose most recent project, Masquerades, was released in April 2022 via Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville in partnership with RCA Records.