Madison Warner, Human Resources Director
Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams released her sophomore album “The Secret of Us” on June 21, 2024. This album falls one year and four months after Abrams’ debut album “Good Riddance,” which was released on February 24, 2023.
In March and April 2024, Abrams began teasing her upcoming album by sharing snippets of new songs to her Instagram page. Abrams then proceeded to announce “Risk,” which was the first single of the approaching album, followed by the second single “Close To You” a month later. Abrams also continued to tease several more songs that would appear on the new album via social media.
“The Secret of Us” opens with “Felt Good About You,” which is a song that describes the difficulties of a romantic relationship, specifically, one that begins with high expectations but slowly leads into disappointment and sorrow.
In “Risk,” Abrams pleads for the success of her current romantic occurrence. Throughout this song, she focuses on all the risks connected to perusing this romance. However, Abrams makes it clear that no matter the consequences, she wants to be in a real relationship with this person. “Watch this be the wrong thing, classic,” easily shows how Abrams is used to making wrong decisions when it comes to romantic partners. The “classic” portion of the lyric indicates that it’s typical this would be another wrong decision for her to make.
“Blowing Smoke” is the third track on this album and is filled with emotions such as jealousy and being haunted by the presence of a past partner’s new romantic interest; overall, it expresses the difficulty of moving on from a relationship. “If she’s got a pulse, she meets your standards now,” perfectly shows Abrams having a difficult time coming to terms with her ex having a new romantic interest. It describes how she believes her past partner has low standards and would take a liking to any living person.
Known for her single “I miss you, I’m sorry,” which was released in April 2020, Abrams plays off that title with “I Love You, I’m Sorry” on her sophomore album. This song digs into a past relationship and reflects on the love and regret that was present. In the first verse, Abrams is looking back on the relationship and all of the highs and lows it was filled with. When it comes to the second verse, Abrams is now looking into the future and expressing how the two are “cool now,” meaning they are on decent terms with one another. In the bridge, Abrams is self-aware and points out her personal flaws. Her repetition of “I’m wrong again” indicates a struggle with the desire to have a relationship that will last a lifetime.
Track five is titled “us.” featuring Taylor Swift and is the only song on the album with a feature. This is the first song Abrams and Swift have written and collaborated on together, along with producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. This track digs into the aftermath of a tragic relationship; one filled with longing and remorse. While explaining the intensity of their past relationships, Abrams and Swift are also found questioning if their exes miss the relationship and reflect on it as much as they do.
“Let It Happen” is a song that shows Abrams caught up in her emotions and developing affection for someone. “Don’t love you yet, but probably will” explains how quickly and easily Abrams can fall for someone. This track describes how she’ll let her guard down for someone new as she hopes she won’t waste her time on someone who treats her badly.
In “Tough Love,” Abrams reflects on self-discovery and prioritizing personal growth over relationships that are short-lived. “No chance I’ll waste my 20s on random men, not one of them is cooler than all my friends,” describes how Abrams is content with focusing on herself and the relationships she knows she will have for the rest of her life, rather than fighting for a relationship she is certain will only be brief in the end.
The eighth track is called “I Knew It, I Know You” and is all about Abrams feeling apologetic towards someone, however, she finds herself unable to actually apologize to them, as it would go against herself. This is reflected perfectly in the line “Well I just can’t pretend that I’m sorry, when I’m not sorry.” Abrams also points out that all she ever did was consider this person, but eventually, she had to learn to focus and consider herself.
“Gave You I Gave You I” is a song that reflects on feeling used and heartbroken in a relationship. Abrams sings about how gave so much of herself for this person, just to not be appreciated the way she should have been. Instead, she feels betrayed by her partner as they seem to lose interest in her and get bored of their relationship. Abrams recounts how her love and dedication was not tolerated properly by her partner, causing her to explore themes of moving on and self-worth later in this song.
In “Normal Thing,” Abrams is describing the development of her feelings for someone who is putting on an act, which causes her to only see them in a particular light because of this treatment. She reflects on how she finds it inauthentic for someone to live their life as if they are slipping into the role of a character, because by being this “other version” they are only restraining back who you really are.
In an interview with Billboard, Abrams says “Good Luck Charlie” is about witnessing the end of a relationship between two friends. It describes half mourning the loss of the relationship, while the other half is wishing well for everyone involved and affected. This slow and emotional song describes a past relationship of Abrams’ best friend, Audrey Hobert.
The final track of Gracie Abrams sophomore album is “Free Now,” which reflects on how everything she felt in the past has been laid to rest. The song describes the understanding of a past partner’s struggles, however, the realization that the relationship was unhealthy for both of them is the main focus of this song. “Never been less empty, all I feel is free now” perfectly captures the sense of relief and freedom that is felt now that the toxic relationship has officially ended.
The bonus closing track is called “Close To You.” As mentioned previously, this was the second single released, however, as Abrams mentions via Instagram, originally, this song was not meant to be included on this album at all. Abrams released a 20 second demo of the song seven years ago when she originally wrote it, and after all these years, fans begged for it to be released. Luckily, Abrams heard everyone loud and clear. This song is brings a very upbeat energy and is a great way to wrap up the album.
