PNAU, Khalid drop “The Hard Way”.

PNAU, the Australian trio and Khalid have called off their anticipated collaboration The Hard Way. Blending Khalid’s powerful vocals with PNAU’s scintillating synthesizer instrumentals creates a brilliantly layered track.

“I wish we could have come to a solution / Find a solution through all the conflict / But now we sit in this empty room and / You push me aside,” Khalid sings in the first stanza before it, still admitting that he struggling with the chorus. “As you said / We both just have to learn the hard way / I sit here for hours begging you to stay / Ever since you left me, I’ll never be the same.”

Last month the song was teased on TikTok and is believed to appear on PNAU’s eventual new album.

“We are very pleased to share this with you,” PNAU’s Nick Littlemore said in a statement, according to ToneDeaf. “Working with Khalid was an absolute dream, we hope this song will live on in your hearts as it does in ours.”

“It’s just great; it feels good but then the lyrics have this melancholy bittersweet thing,” Khalid added of her new song. “It’s that juxtaposition that the lyrics are heartbreakingly sad, but when you listen to the song you can’t help but smile.

Check out PNAU and Khalid’s The Hard Way above.