Gracie Abrams’ highly anticipated second album, The Secret of Us, was released on Friday 21st June. Since the release of her debut EP Minor in 2020, Abrams has solidified herself in the soft, ‘sad-girl pop’ scene through her emotional, yearning lyrics and her ethereal, gentle voice. Despite this, The Secret Of Us is not without faults and doesn’t quite live up to my expectations for Abrams’ sophomore album.
There are a few great tracks on The Secret Of Us. Both of the album’s singles, ‘Risk’ and ‘Close To You’ are real highlights. In ‘Risk’, Abrams’ voice shifts from her signature, Phoebe-Bridgers-esque breathy vocals to a louder, frantic urgency, drawing the listener in with a sense of desperation to reach the song’s climax. The lyrics “I feel like I could die/ ‘cause you’re not here/ and it don’t feel right” are particularly haunting, and encapsulate the themes of love, loss, and longing which repeatedly appear throughout the album.
The album’s second single, ‘Close To You’, provides the final track, and compared to the other songs on The Secret Of Us offers vibrant, classic pop beats whilst Abrams laments over her desires for intimacy with somebody who seems unaware of her existence. It is musically reminiscent of Lorde’s ‘Green Light’ and progresses from soft, almost spoken singing to pounding drums and powerful, exhilarating belting, providing a strong, cathartic emotional release.
Pretty much every song begins with quiet singing which eventually increases in intensity but fails to climax
‘Tough Love’ also stands out for its jaunty, acoustic melody and faster pace. Abrams takes on a more singsong voice than in the other tracks, resulting in a song that is more memorable, catchy, and uplifting. In this song, Abrams considers the significance of her female friendships, a refreshing contrast to the relationship focus of the rest of the album. Abrams sings “no chance I waste my twenties on random men/ not one of them is cooler than all my friends”, reflective of the complexities of navigating dating a string of ‘random men’ in your early twenties alongside the preciousness of strong female friendships.
Track 5, ‘us.’, is the only song featuring another artist; Taylor Swift accompanies Abrams on this titular track which begins softly but develops into a more intense, emotionally-driven number with Swift and Abrams’ whimsical voices complementing each other well. Abrams is undoubtedly more well-known amongst Swifties due to being Swift’s support act during the American leg of the Eras Tour, and her influence on Abrams is especially clear in this song’s punchy, Swift-style bridge, which definitely gives this song an edge.
However, aside from these tracks, The Secret of Us severely lacks variety and excitement. Pretty much every song begins with quiet singing which eventually increases in intensity but fails to climax, backed by a relentless acoustic guitar, causing each song to blur into one and leaving little impression on the listener. Tracks ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’, and ‘Good Luck Charlie’ exemplify this – they both begin with soft, calm singing and simple, background melodies, continuing persistently in this way throughout, with no burst of energy, excitement, or emotion.
Many of the songs fail to build in intensity or emotion, making the album hard to listen to and engage with in its entirety
Similarly, the violin build-up in the penultimate track ‘Free Now’ is admittedly beautiful, but it fails to erupt into the euphoric crescendo it teases, again reinforcing the underwhelming feel of the album. Even the opening song, ‘Felt Good About You’, falls victim to this monotony. Backed by a quiet, constant, electronic melody, Abrams’ soft voice is at the forefront of this track, and at no point do the instruments or her vocals build in intensity. Collectively, this gives the album an arduous, never-ending feel, and whilst each song individually is quite good, repeating the same formula becomes tedious and frustrating.
Overall, there is a cohesiveness to The Secret Of Us, and some of the songs are really catchy and compelling. However, whilst each song individually is fairly easy on the ear, as a collective they are just too similar, and I doubt I will be playing the whole album on repeat. Many of the songs fail to build in intensity or emotion, making the album hard to listen to and engage with in its entirety, unfortunately resulting in an underwhelming, rather bland collection of songs.
In July, Abrams embarks on a small run of shows in England, as well as a large US and Canada tour in September, so it will be interesting to hear these new songs performed live. I am also excited to see how Abrams’ music evolves and develops further in the future, hopefully with a bit more variety and flair than this album provides.
Words by Abi Manley.
TrueStyleMusic 