Wrabel Opens Up About His Recovery on Personal New Song 'One Drink Away': 'I'm Alive Because I'm Sober'

The singer-songwriter, who has been on a sobriety journey for the past eight years, spoke to PEOPLE for the exclusive debut of his "One Drink Away" music video

Wrabel is living for the present. 

The 34-year-old artist, whose first name is Stephen, is set to drop his EP Chapter of Me on April 21, and while all of the tracks speak to the stage of his life that he's in now, one song in particular stands out on a deeply personal level: "One Drink Away."

"I had every intention of writing this sober anthem about overcoming — my Rachel Platten 'Fight Song' — about sobriety. But what we landed on was something very much not that," Wrabel says of the song, the music video for which PEOPLE premieres above. "What I ended up writing was, 'I'm scared to death that I'm going to drink again and ruin my whole life and end up dead, period.' And that freaked me out."

The veteran songwriter, who has worked with Kesha, Pink, country stars Cam and Tenille Townes, Louis Tomlinson and more, explains that he never "forces" a story, and as he's learning in this new chapter of his life to embrace the here and now, that also means letting the song be brutally honest about where he's been in the past. 

The "Happier" singer's journey to sobriety has included therapy, relapse and a DUI — a time and place in Wrabel's life that he never wants to go back to (and serves as the driving force behind the song).

"That's maybe the truest part of the story [of 'One Drink Away'] for me in that moment, in that season, in that place. And I think I was ready to tell that story," he explains. "It just sort of reminded me — I don't live my life as a sober person constantly thinking about my sobriety. I don't squish it away — I've learned with many things that you can't really do that. It has to exist, and it has to be real, and it has to have the respect it deserves."

Wrabel in white shirt
Wrabel.

Yazz Alali

Part of Wrabel's mass appeal (his song "The Village" has become an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community) is his ability to unite people in their experiences, especially those that maybe aren't so often talked about, like being in recovery or coming out. 

"I view my job as catching things. And I don't mean to in any way, shape or form say that 'One Drink Away' is the same as 'The Village,' but to me, it sits on that same ground floor," he says. "And I think maybe the biggest thing they have in common is they tell stories that I didn't know you could tell."

Embracing his recovery journey isn't always easy, but Wrabel has "been to the gates of hell," he says. And, once he got there, he knew he had no choice but to "turn around": "I'm alive because I'm sober, and now I fully understand that. The flip side of that coin is not something that I care to see. I really already did that, and it didn't end well." 

Wrabel with dark background
Wrabel.

Yazz Alali

In order to stay sober, Wrabel makes careful choices every day — and a conversation about that with a stranger inspired the second verse of "One Drink Away."

"He said something that really stuck with me. He said, 'Yeah, the biggest thing now that everything's open and we're coming to work again is every time I get off the freeway to go home, I either make a right or I make a left. And I just choose to make a right and go home,'" Wrabel recalls.

In that moment, Wrabel was reminded of his own story and the dive bar he passes by on his way home, and so the second verse of 'One Drink Away' captures that sentiment: "There's a place I won't go / And it's on my way home / It's a choice that I make/ Every single day."

Ultimately, Wrabel wrote "One Drink Away" for himself and for the other "humans" out there who might need to hear the song and find their story in the lyrics. 

"Addiction can be so lonely. And that is really, honestly, a horrifying place to be. So I try to share about things that maybe I don't see shared about a lot. Whether it's coming-out stories or getting sober and then getting un-sober and then getting sober again and trying to stay sober," he says. "They even tell you relapse is actually a part of recovery."

Wrabel, who has admittedly gotten sober twice, hopes sharing his journey will help end the stigmatization that surrounds addiction, which he continues to confront. 

"Even these little things, like hearing another artist say that they clear out the booze from their hotel room, makes me feel empowered to not feel embarrassed or weird when I check into a hotel at 2 in the morning and have someone from night staff come up and clear out the booze. And I don't feel as awkward being like, 'Oh, I'm actually a raging alcoholic. And the bottles start talking to me in my sleep if they're in here,'" he says. 

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Wrabel adds: "I do think sharing does de-stigmatize and does help. Anything that I can do to help someone see that they're not alone — those are the things that have changed my life in big ways. It's that simple thing of realizing, 'Oh, I'm not the only one.'"

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