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Music Review: An uninhibited Gracie Abrams finds energy in the chaos on 㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us㽶Ƶֱ

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This album cover image released by Interscope Records shows 㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us㽶Ƶֱ by Gracie Abrams. (Interscope Records via AP)

Singer-songwriter succumbs to a crush on 㽶ƵֱRisk,㽶Ƶֱ the lead single of her frantic and melancholic sophomore album, 㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us.㽶Ƶֱ

㽶ƵֱHeard the risk is drowning / But I㽶Ƶֱm gonna take it,㽶Ƶֱ she sings atop fast acoustic guitar, her vocals growing more frenetic as the production thickens. 㽶ƵֱWatch this be the wrong thing,㽶Ƶֱ she exclaims in the chorus.

The track reveals an evolved, but familiar, Abrams. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter has but 㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us㽶Ƶֱ is more intimate and less reserved than her previous work. This time, her songs aren㽶Ƶֱt recollections of waning heartbreak, long held insecurity or lingering guilt. They㽶Ƶֱre happening in real time, developing and dissipating on record.

That immersion is achieved through the album㽶Ƶֱs production, a collaboration between Abrams, her longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner and co-writer Audrey Hobert, with cameos from and producer Jack Antonoff.

The great 㽶ƵֱBlowing Smoke㽶Ƶֱ sets a biting critique of a lost flame to acoustic guitar and hums that are traded for electric instruments and shouts, as Abrams㽶Ƶֱ quips lean into frustration.

She belts on 㽶ƵֱLet it Happen,㽶Ƶֱ where 㽶ƵֱTough Love㽶Ƶֱ starts with whispers on a train to Boston and ends with a euphoric drum beat and declaration of self-love: 㽶ƵֱI know now what I㽶Ƶֱm leaving for.㽶Ƶֱ

Bonus track 㽶ƵֱClose to You,㽶Ƶֱ produced by Sam de Jong and reworked after a clip of it went viral, lives more in the magnetic world of Lorde and Ellie Goulding㽶Ƶֱs 2010s hits than it does in Abrams㽶Ƶֱ own 㽶Ƶֱ but showcases a pop persona that peeks through on 㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us.㽶Ƶֱ

The urgent melodies and breathless bridges on this confident album are progressed from Abrams㽶Ƶֱ past work 㽶Ƶֱ when her writerly, soft-sung, 㽶Ƶֱsad girl㽶Ƶֱ pop music was much more wistful and anxious.

The tracks that exemplify her new personality most clearly 㽶Ƶֱ 㽶ƵֱRisk,㽶Ƶֱ 㽶ƵֱBlowing Smoke,㽶Ƶֱ 㽶Ƶֱus. (feat. Taylor Swift)㽶Ƶֱ 㽶Ƶֱ are the album㽶Ƶֱs most interesting. It㽶Ƶֱs a shift that Abrams to the period of growth between her last project and this one. That year and a half included and extensive touring on her own and opening for Swift.

The album㽶Ƶֱs sparkling centerpiece is 㽶Ƶֱus. (feat. Taylor Swift).㽶Ƶֱ Their voices weave together, harmonizing the album㽶Ƶֱs title atop a dreamy acoustic track produced by the duo, Dessner and Antonoff: 㽶ƵֱI felt it, you held it, do you miss us, us? / Wonder if you regret the secret of us,㽶Ƶֱ they sing, with Abrams leading.

The feature from Swift feels like a stamp of approval for Abrams. And while references to annotated sonnets and Robert Bly could place this track within Swift㽶Ƶֱs it is recognizably Abrams in its youthful and thoughtful angst 㽶Ƶֱ as well as those private reflections on unrequited love.

㽶ƵֱThe Secret of Us,㽶Ƶֱ paints a picture of an artist in motion, one who is discovering what excites her creatively as she navigates young adulthood. And by taking listeners along for that ride 㽶Ƶֱ the frustrations, vanities, chaotic crushes and all 㽶Ƶֱ she opens an exciting door for her future as an assured and energetic performer.

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AP music reviews:

Elise Ryan, The Associated Press





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