The Secret of Us by Gracie Abrams
The Secret of Us is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, released on June 21, 2024, via Interscope Records. It was mostly produced by Abrams and the American musician Aaron Dessner, who she had first collaborated with on her debut studio album, Good Riddance (2023). Abrams wrote most of the songs with either Dessner or her frequent co-writer Audrey Hobert. Musically, The Secret of Us has been labeled as a country pop, indie pop, and folk album. Two singles—"Risk" and "Close to You"—preceded the album's release, the latter of which entered the top-50 region of the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who is often cited by Abrams as an artistic influence, appears on the track "Us" as a guest feature. To promote The Secret of Us, Abrams is set to embark on a tour of the same name, commencing in September 2024. She also has performed at several events and television programs.
Gracie Abrams may be fresh off her teenage years, but she’s old enough to know risk and reward belong together. That’s part of why she’s done leading with fear on her stripped-down new record <i>The Secret of Us</i>. She tells Apple Music: “This album is kind of like the inner tornado, I guess, when you’re trying to present a way and then it just doesn’t actually really ultimately work.” Since Abrams began releasing music in 2019, the singer-songwriter has homed in on emotional leaps of faith, her tremulous vocals expertly evoking the tear-splattered diary scribbles a great young love inspires. On <i>The Secret of Us</i>, she takes stock of every crush and contradiction that led her to this chapter, reflecting the glow of formative past romances through soft prisms of pop, folk and indie rock. The through line between these different shades of Gracie’s warm style, of course, is the kind of intimate writing she developed in a private journal long before songwriting with partners as esteemed as Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift. “I think the most important thing with songwriting, and it’s what we really wanted to do with this album, is just if you can articulate a feeling,” Abrams tells Apple Music. “I’ve always worked with people who I genuinely love and trust. And so, it’s been such a privilege that that’s been the baseline for me, because I know that that’s a really rare thing for young musicians—for musicians, period.” Anyone who missed Abrams’ coveted stint as an opener on the Eras Tour will welcome Swift’s feature on “us.”, a soaring centrepiece addressed to an older partner Abrams can’t be sure ever took her seriously. She isn’t afraid to face the anxiety around her own legitimacy or face it alone—Swift is the only feature across these 13 tracks. (“She’s been an unbelievable friend to me,” Abrams says of Swift.) But between the cathartic power chords of “Tough Love”, the twinkling balladry of “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and the delicate simplicity of “Free Now”, the real secret to Abrams’ success shines through in her craftsmanship: She’s as serious as it gets. “I hope I’ll always feel like I’m chasing the next best version or whatever I actually need for myself at any given time with each album that I’m lucky enough to make,” Abrams explains. “But this [album] just matched where I’m at in such a real way.”
