Better late than never, right? I’ve admittedly not dug too deep into Gracie Abrams’ music. And that’s saying a lot as she was one of the openers at a very special concert I went to.
Yet, here I am. Ready to embrace her music. Yes, I’m super stoked for track five (if you know, you know) but as always I’ll be starting from the top and making my way down. I’m not a heathen.
As far as I’m aware, I’ve never heard any of the tracks on this album, so it’ll be great hearing everything with fresh ears. I’ve only ever heard one or two tracks from her that are not on this album.
So without further ado, here’s my first reaction and review of Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us.
Felt Good About You
I love the ramp on this track. It starts pretty bleak and slowly, the bass, drums, and percussion start making their way in.
As my first real introduction to Gracie, I think this track is super interesting. Again, the ramp is cool but it doesn’t really resolve. Maybe that’s her styling? I’m not one to judge based on a singular track. I don’t love this track, but I find it super interesting.
Sorry, not sorry? I guess. It’s my blog. This is a reaction post, and this is my initial reaction.
Risk
Right off the bat, the layered and panned acoustic guitars are great. The one on the right is definitely a step higher in pitch than the left. But it creates a fantastic stereo effect.
Gracie’s vocal pacing is fantastic here; very quick and breathy. I instantly added this track to my library just because of that.
The introduction of the bass and kick drum are great, too. Her vocals are very aggressive and forward, while the bass and kick drum are very upper-bass heavy, giving them more of a bouncy sound.
The final chorus is excellent. It introduces a surprising snare drum. Up until this point, it’s been the same three instruments: kick drum, bass, and acoustic guitar. Nice little surprise to close out the track.
Blowing Smoke
Clearly, she’s an acoustic guitar type of artist so I can stop mentioning it every single track. The single note synth is cool, however.
I guess based on the first few tracks I’ve heard from her, I like how "chaotic" the second chorus is. The drumbeat caught my attention right away.
The bridge takes a similar approach. It strips everything back but the kick drum and acoustic guitar. Gracie’s vocals take center stage here, with much more gain than before. What I’m not sure of is if she’s doubling her voice here or if there’s a slight timing delay to create that effect. I’d be interested to know what you think.
Sneaky, sneaky. It’s kind of buried in the mix, but I did notice the electric guitar that starts about halfway through the bridge, into the final choruses.
Overall, I love this song. It’s a fun listen with a few ear candies.
I Love You, I’m Sorry
Based on the song title, I’m guessing we’re heading into a ballad. It’s just a guess, but I could also be wrong. It’s also the first of four back-to-back- explicit tracks on the album.
Two Augusts ago, I told the truth but you didn’t like it. You went home. Ooof, we’re definitely heading into a ballad. I’m preparing the tissues now.
The second chorus is absolutely beautiful. The soft snare, tambourine, and strings.
Moving onto the bridge, I love the layered vocals. From my limited experience with the first few tracks on the album, Gracie doesn’t really do a whole lot of backing vocals. And if she does, she does them all in-house. But the backing vocals in this bridge are perfection. Blend that with the trailed-off vocals at the end of each line, and you have a great bridge in terms of vocal performance.
Okay, the final chorus is exceptional. She’s blending in some of the backing vocals from the bridge. And if you’ve ever produced or are obsessed with production, you know how difficult that is. Especially when the layered vocals and main vocals are from the same artist. Bravo, indeed.
us. (featuring Taylor Swift)
Of course, this is the anticipated track as the only song on the album with a feature. The feature is currently the world’s largest pop star. Are you surprised I haven’t heard this track before? Cause I definitely am. Anyways, on with the actual reaction. The fangirling stops here.
I know I said I’d stop mentioning the acoustic guitar, but I can’t help it. Right off the rip, the muted acoustic guitar is fantastic. It definitely sets a more friendlier vibe. Let’s see if my production holds up.
I love the breathy vocals combined with the reverb. It fits well with Gracie’s voice.
I guess I have to redact my previous statement. Gracie doesn’t always use her own voice for backing vocals. Maybe it’s an outlier, but that’s definitely Taylor Swift’s voice backing up Gracie here. If I had a bingo card, "Taylor Swift as the backing vocalist" would’ve never been on there. I was definitely imagining the typical back and forth—Gracie takes verse one, Taylor takes verse two—type of collab. But I do like the decision to go differently here.
This track continues to surprise me, I guess. There’s a much deeper kick drum and bass on this track. Not quite sub-bass, but more in the mid-bass region, which is a complete change from the first few tracks I’ve heard.
Oh, there’s Taylor. She entered and left the chat in about two lines. That was a very quick second verse.
This track is definitely a head bopper. I think that’s the first on this album. Honestly, I should’ve expected this unique Taylor Swift feature. Again, it’s not the usual back and forth collab we’ve come to expect from pop music. Instead, Taylor is sprinkled in here and there, making it very clear that this is very much still a Gracie track.
It’s one of those tracks where if you had it playing in the background, you might not have any idea it even featured another artist, let alone Taylor Swift. And to me, those are my favorite collaborations. Taylor’s the biggest artist in the world at the moment, and the last thing you want is for her to overshadow your work.
An example of that would be Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me, which featured the late Michael Jackson. It’s a great overall track, but nowadays most people only really know the chorus, which is sung by MJ. I’d wager most people think it’s either MJ’s track or it’s MJ featuring Rockwell and not the other way around.
Let It Happen
Maybe us. is the turning point? I’m in love with the more aggressive guitar and bass right from the start.
I bet all my money that I would lose to you and hand you my life. Here's to hoping you're worth my time. Maybe not the same situation, but this definitely hits home. You can definitely relate if you’ve ever been in a relationship that your soul and heart are in it, but your mind is questioning it. But the disconnect leads you to say, "fuck it, let’s see where this goes."
If I didn’t know better, I’d say this is a sleeper track. The choruses absolutely slap, and the verses convey such a heavy message lyrically. It’s gotta be on my top five favorite tracks on the album. One could argue this album is melodramatic, but this track hits even harder in that direction.
What an absolute banger of a track. No notes.
Tough Love
You know how I mentioned the turning point earlier in this post? This definitely seems to be the case because Tough Love sounds straight up pop and not alt in any way.
It kicks things off with a synth, a fast-paced drum, and a vocal pattern. That beloved acoustic guitar takes a backseat.
There’s the classic Gracie backing vocals again in the second verse. Honestly, I love that production decision as it makes things sound even more aggressive.
This track came and went. Sorry for the lack of a reaction but it’s excellent. I guess it blew me away that much. It’s a fantastic track.
And that’s that for explicit tracks. Unless it’s a metadata problem, none of the other tracks have the explicit icon next to them.
I Knew It, I Know You
Then, of course, I prove myself wrong. Back to more laid-back, acoustic-y Gracie. Nice.
I’m kind of surprised it took me this long but I just realized that her voice has a raspiness that’s similar to Lorde. They’re different octaves and vocal ranges, of course. But something to think about.
The bridge comes in a bit early on this track but I love the pace change here. A bit more aggressive and forward, without adding a whole lot in the production. Then, of course, the entire vibe changes for the rest of the track. The vocal layering and pacing is fantastic.
Yeah, overall a great track. Not much to say. I love it. I think this is my favorite closer on this album thus far.
Gave You I Gave You I
First off, super interesting title. I had to triple check and make sure I was reading it right. I even checked multiple streaming services to make sure it was right.
I love the synth right from the start. And of course, I will keep drilling this point home. Gracie doing her backing vocals all in-house and the layering from the production team is top notch. This track is no exception. The filtered drums is chef’s kiss as well.
I think this is the first time I’ve realized how treble-y her vocals are. What I mean by that is that her voice is very sharp. Her S’ and T’s come through very well, and it’s obvious that the production team is aware of that and tries to EQ it out as much as possible.
Normal Thing
It’s a normal thing to fall in love with movie stars is probably her most relatable lyric yet. Kidding, of course. But we’ve all had crushes on celebrities before, don’t lie.
I think I’m sensing another pattern, but it’s a great one! This album is thematically very good. Not that every song sounds the same (because that’s not the truth), but similar production techniques come into play here. For example, the muted drum kit.
A bass is introduced in the first chorus and compliments said muted drum kit very well. It gets axed for the second verse, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’ll come back for the next chorus. (Yup, I was right.)
I do absolutely love the ramp for the drum kit, though. The snare gets a bit more spicy in the second chorus.
Overall, I love the melodramatic nature of this track. It’s like medium intensity in the best ways possible. From the pacing, to the vocals, and the instrumentation.
Good Luck Charlie
I’ve gotta resist the urge to make the joke about the Disney show here. But I guess it’s too late. So, no, this isn’t the theme song for the show.
Outside of the first track, I think this is the only other track thus far that I don’t love. As I’ve said in the past, that’s okay. You can’t expect any single person to love every song they listen to, and Good Luck Charlie is on that list for me.
It’s a number of things. I think the pacing isn’t there for me, combined with a secondary voice coming in for the backing vocals that sealed the deal.
Free Now
It’s a head bopper, right from the first note. The driving synth sounds super cool. Combine that with the soft crash cymbal. It’s smooth. I love how soft the vibe is on this track.
Oh, the pace changes about halfway through the track. I was not expecting that at all.
I’m not sure what to call it, but I think this track has soft-punk/rock vibes, sprinkled with some jazz. Whatever that is, I want more of it. I love it.
What a unique track. It probably won’t make my top five, but it’s excellent. I applaud Gracie and her team for creating something that crosses multiple genres but somehow manages to still be her sound.
Close To You
The last track starts off strong with the first hint of a gut-punching bass. This one definitely digs deep into the sub frequencies (20-30Hz, I would guess).
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it, but this track leans more bubblegum pop. I definitely thought we might see an EDM-style pop song. But alas, I was wrong.
I’m not sure how I feel about this track. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I find it interesting, but unlike Free Now, I don’t think she hit the mark trying to blend a few genres together here. And that’s a shame for the album closer.
Conclusion
10 out of 13 isn’t bad, especially for an artist I hardly knew before reacting to this album. The Secret of Us is a solid, well rounded album. I learned a lot about who Gracie is and her sound. Which, I generally like quite a bit.
Obviously, there are a few tracks in there that I didn’t fall in love with, but that’s absolutely okay. I don’t typically rate albums on a scale, but I’d give it an 8 out of 10. There’s lots to love for everybody involved. I came in expecting indie/alternative and I came out pleasantly surprised with its mix of pop and rock, in addition to the aforementioned genres.
Of course, there’s the Taylor Swift feature on track five. For a collab, I’m completely blown away by the unique approach to the track. It’s one of those tracks where if you remove the featured artist entirely, it could stand on its own. But having her there gave it that extra oomph.
But to close out, I would highly recommend listening to The Secret of Us. It’s a great listen and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the album. Which albums were your favorite? Don’t be afraid to let me know on social media!
NOTE: This reaction was completed after listening to Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us (24-bit, 48 kHz) on Tidal with the Tidal Desktop application and an active Tidal subscription.