Seemingly out of nowhere, this album was seen as one of the major releases of 2024. Gracie Abrams was one of the breakthrough artists of that year. Her debut album, Good Riddance back in 2023 received mostly positive reviews and set the stage for The Secret Of Us. This album charted at #1 in multiple countries after the album was mainly written on tour in support of Taylor Swift, who also appears on this album. Seen as a crossover artist, mixing Indie Pop and Folk influences, this album points out a trend that is a resurgence of more traditional genres after Electronic Music had been dominant for so long in the charts. The album itself was self-produced by Gracie Abrams with Aaron Dessner, Sam De Jong, Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff at Long Pond studios in Hudson Valley. There were three main singles from this album as well. The album was released on 21 June 2024 by Interscope Records and runs for over 47 minutes. Let’s listen to this popular album, and we hope that it is a good release.

1. Felt Good About You begins with some treated guitars, and quickly launches into a good song with some of the same autotuned and lazily produced vocals that you can easily hear on other contemporary female artists’ recordings. Even so, this is a pleasant listen and for the most part, is a good listen. It’s a good start to the album and given that Gracie Abrams writes her own material, this is a major step forward for music at this point in time. This is passionately romantic and love-based lyrically, matched by some interesting Electronic sounds in the background. The production and sounds present are immaculate. A good listen, even though this is music aimed directly at post-2000 born listeners. It ends fairly quickly.

2. Risk begins with some sweet acoustic guitar playing that is dual-tracked. Gracie Abrams sings about more relationship issues at hand, and her voice is pleasant and soothing to hear. This is still following a formulaic Pop process, but it sounds uplifting and fantastic. The music is really top and is the lead single from the album. You can hear why, this is instantly enjoyable and loveable for what it is. This is a good example song-wise of where music really needs to head today, that is, if you love Pop Music. The melodies, instrumentation and singing are passionate and fantastic. In any relationship, it is indeed a risk but it is a risk worth taking if with the right person. All in all, a gorgeous and fine tune that is worth listening to, even if you don’t follow the Top 50 charts. It is brilliantly layered and well-produced.

3. Blowing Smoke begins with some melodic strummed acoustic guitars and our lady begins singing smoothly over the top of it all. A good listening experience, this music will especially appeal to young teenagers out there who don’t want to hear overly saturated Electronic Pop Music and instead want to hear something fairly original in the postmodern Pop world. This is a song about more relationship issues, and this is 21st century Folk Pop Music that counts. The moody singing and simple instrumentation are given plenty of breathing space to be memorable and catchy. This is a positive step forward musically in the whole so-called “celebrity with a laptop” era-styled Pop Music. Gracie Abrams sings about the serious issue of being cheated on by a lover with someone else on the internet. Tragic. Still, this is excellent music to hear. Gracie Abrams makes for some brilliant songs concerning love matters at hand. A good song that runs for less than four minutes in length. The outro is pseudo-Psychedelic. A good effort.

4. I Love You, I’m Sorry is the key track from this album. It begins with some acoustic guitar playing and vocals, launching straight into a moody, melancholy piece of music that sounds very, very good. A straightforward song that has some deeply emotional and brilliant singing, matched with some excellent instrumentation. If you have ever been in a serious relationship, this song will make perfect sense to you in an emotional way. A fantastic song about relationship losses in retrospect. Upon hearing this, you may wish to contact your ex-partner to reconcile. A majestic and pretty, but sad listen. Excellent.

5. us. (feat. Taylor Swift) is another major discussion point of this album, beginning with fingerpicked acoustic guitars. This sounds very fresh and polished. Gracie Abrams sings nicely over the top of it all, and this is much more about sonic textures than anything else in this song. The vocals could have been better mixed better here. The song is about reflecting on past relationship experiences, and asking an ex-partner if they ever look back to what was then. Nonetheless, this is very good and interesting to hear. A good song articulating the frustration of postmodern difficulties in the world of love, this is a listen that will be close to the bone for many out there. In any case, this is good music to listen to, when the mood strikes one. A good song but this is rather depressing musically. In any case, it works well. It does sound like a sell-out musically, but all the same, it is understandably listenable. It ends with repeated lyrics and finishes after four minutes in length.

6. Let It Happen begins with laughter in the background and a keyboard playing. Gracie Abrams sings over the top of it all, and she sings like Ariana Grande, in a way. This is typical postmodern female Pop stuff, but it is better than some of her contemporaries. Regardless, this is a passionate and excellent listen for what it is. The music is simple and enjoyable enough. This is a bittersweet experience listening to this album. It is a genuinely great effort but the air of negativity in romantic ideals is a bit offputting. Regardless, this is a good song, but this does sound fairly formulaic. In any case, Gracie Abrams sings about the difficulties of being in love with someone important and doing their best to rectify broken hearts in her life. A good listen, but the selfish and moody nature of the music isn’t overly rewarding. This is okay, but it drags on negatively.

7. Tough Love begins with some electronic beats and instantly launches into a rapid-fire and murmured lyric set by Gracie Abrams. This sounds instantly like a throwaway song, although the chorus is redeeming. It seems that ever since COVID-19 broke out, the world of music has been negatively affected by outside events. This is okay but it will only appeal to those currently in their teen years who follow the latest trends and don’t seriously look at love as a glass half full, as opposed to a glass half empty. This song isn’t overly impressive and sounds like a drag emotionally. Good but not quite great.

8. I Knew It, I Know You begins with some more melodic acoustic guitar strumming, which sounds clean and good. Gracie Abrams sings nicely and she sounds powerfully emotional in this song. Again, this music is beautiful but tinged with tragedy. The moody love songs on this album aren’t designed for regular listening but are definitely 21st century new age breakup songs, for when the mood strikes. There is a string section in the background as well. Still, this is genuinely good, although not everyone will approve of the overall negative and overly dramatic vibe on this set of songs. Nonetheless, this is very pretty music and it sounds sweet for what it is. A beautiful listen that builds up in volume and intensity in the second half of the song, Gracie Abrams’s music is directed to a specific audience, rather than making music that everyone will enjoy. Another sad and moody song to listen to. The ending is dramatic.

9. Gave You I Gave You I begins with some layered keyboards, which sound a bit too 1980s. Gracie Abrams enters into it with smooth vocals and this song is a little nonsensical and trashy. Still, it will appeal to those who follow the Pop charts, but most serious listeners will not wish to hear this album in its entirety. Gracie Abrams is merely making music to sell units, not make something that will be considered an absolute classic in years to come. This song is not very memorable on its own, and the lyrical themes are very much broken hearts and depressing throughout. Despite these flaws, one can hear the effort being put in. A sad reflection on an ex-partner, once again, this isn’t the uplifting and consistent Pop record that the world desperately needs. This possibly could have been trimmed down length-wise as well, but that is a matter for discussion. Not a happy-sounding lady, Gracie Abrams may be popular, but this is overly negative and depressing.

10. Normal Thing begins with multitracked vocals and some ordinary-sounding keyboards. Quite clearly, this is filler by this point. Sadly, this sounds identical to the sort of music that fellow contemporaries such as Olivia Rodrigo do much better. A draining emotional listen, this is not the best of Pop Music for history’s sake. 4/4 beats enter and this isn’t a good match musically for Gracie Abrams. A sad and conflicted-sounding song, this isn’t what the world needs to hear. Many listeners who prefer guitar-based Rock Music, in particular, will despise the negativity and polish of this album. This song is barely okay to listen to. A moody and negative song that is enough to either hit stop in frustration or tear your hair out, this isn’t the best of the best. This is also very repetitive in the second half and could have been trimmed down.

11. Good Luck Charlie begins with some double-tracked vocals and acoustic guitars. Gracie Abrams sings a rather deep and moody song that is a bit slow to listen to. In any case, this song is like a slow-burning cigarette, toxic and unnecessary to consume. There is some slide guitar and rather sweet singing, but to be fair, this is yet another Pop Music album that won’t be remembered in 20 years. This song in particular takes a long time to get going, and it sounds really brutal lyrically and negative musically. Positivity would have been a better selling point for this album, the overt dreariness and melancholy of this album is not something that one should hear on a Pop album. This isn’t very listenable. It wraps up with repeated choruses and a slow conclusion.

12. Free Now begins with smooth vocals and some deliberately simple Electronic instrumentation. This song is another slow burner, and it sounds like more of the same at this point, sadly. This music is overly feministic as well. Sure, bands like AC/DC are really only for macho males out there, but having said that, the opposite doesn’t really work musically, either. This music is rather a big drag to listen to, and by this point, you may want to hit stop and go and do something else. A guitar and drum build-up occurs in the midsection, which sounds a bit different. Gracie Abrams sings about the chaotic nature of postmodern relationships. Unfortunately, relationships are not taken seriously in our world today, and this song (and album) underlines this fact. Tell us something we don’t already know. A bit of a drag to listen to. Fairly depressing.

13. Close To You is the final track on this album, and sounds like garbage from the start. Gracie Abrams sings gently over the top of some electronic sounds, and this is another rather average and forgettably dreary song. Sadly, this is another polished product that has little appeal to serious music listeners. This should not be the case. Gracie Abrams has better potential than this sort of music setup. Very few could literally consider this album a masterpiece, which it is not. The treated vocals, sour lyrics and predictable textures do let this album down, and all the tracks sound too unimaginative. In any case, this is okay but not outright brilliant. A lacklustre listen, but fortunately, this isn’t too long. This music is too one-sided and a sell-out to be truly appreciated. A disappointing end to an album that could have been bettered.

In short, this album is far from perfect. It mixes post COVID-19 Pop attitude with predictable textures and not a shred of positivity about it. Sure, this is designed to be listened to as a female breakup album but its appeal is not broad. Musically, it is not very imaginative either. Therefore, this is a good album that is rather disappointing. Should you listen to this album? No, don’t bother unless you want to hear exactly what is popular at this point in time. Fans of Gracie Abrams will be happy to know that there is a Deluxe Edition of this album with extra tracks on it as well.

Could have been much, much better.

6/10