“We [Abrams’ team] had real, true fun writing this album,” Gracie Abrams stated when she announced the release of her sophomore album, “The Secret of Us,” in an Instagram post dated April 29, 2024. Her freshman album, “Good Riddance,” attracted ardent listeners who anticipated the release of her second album.

Most songs on Abrams’ album focus on relationships: The different aspects of relationships and the reasons why these relationships, hers and others, are in jeopardy, overrated, or the best or worst thing that has ever happened to her. 

Abrams has created a close bond with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift during appearances on multiple of Swift’s Eras Tour dates, while also taking inspiration from her since T-Swift is most notably known for her songs about relationships. Swift also is featured on the album.

The 13 tracks together supply listeners with a succession of sad but easy listening melodies to pause and consider the impact of relationships on one’s psyche. 

• Felt Good About You – 6/10

The opening track relates how one person is so in love with someone and feels good about them until they realize over the course of this song that they are better by themselves. This song starts off with a sad, fast beat, which is typical of Abrams’ style. I am not much of a fan of this song as the way it flows together does not interest me that much, but the song is well constructed, with a captivating message. However, the style, with the slow sound, does not energize the listener’s ear. The energy just doesn’t have the ability to pull me in, which kind of discourages me from listening to the full song.

• Risk – 9/10

As the first single on the album, “Risk” had a music video that came along with it, which got great recognition from her fans. In the video, Abrams is seen stressing over what to wear, chickening out while trying to take a risk, and dancing through the hallways of her house, while she’s drunk and her friends are watching. I found myself watching the music video over and over again because the way it showcases different elements of the song makes makes the music video entertaining to watch. For the lyrics, she is talking about how normal it is for her to take risks while getting invested and making the wrong choice, but she’s also trying to convince herself that it is not a good idea. For me, the song is the best one on the album. Though it is a beautiful song, it isn’t as good as some other songs in this album, which is why this song is merely close to perfect. 

• Blowing Smoke – 8/10

“If she’s got a pulse, she meets your standards now,” sings Abrams in the third track of her album, “Blowing Smoke.” This is one of my favorite tracks on her album. It depicts the feeling of heartbreak, as well as jealousy, since she sees her ex with someone else. This makes her question things, such as is the new person better than I am? Is she prettier than me? Although she is saying that the break up was a good idea, she is still having all of these complicated feelings. Combined with her beautiful vocals and the developing guitar beat that complements the chorus, this song is good. In fact, my favorite track on the album when I first listened to it and it became my favorite. Now I realize some of the other tracks were better when I listened to it all. Although these are great features to the song, the lyrics do not compare to some of the others on this album.

• I Love You, I’m Sorry – 7/10

On July 16, Abrams announced the release of this song’s music video. She talks about how she told her ex about something horrible she did, so now the singer was at fault and is trying to deal with the guilt and heartbreak that is showcased in the song. In the music video, Abrams is shown accepting an award for the “biggest a**hole of the year.” In fact, the song title is similar to “I Miss You, I’m Sorry,” which relates to some of the same themes but was released four years prior. When I listened to  the new track the first time, I saw the way she was able to capture the guilt and honesty in a relationship. The musical components of this song were displayed above average, but not perfectly. For example, the only part that really drew me in was the bridge and the chorus, which are by far the most popular parts of the song, mainly because her vocals are well showcased. Everything else in the song was soft and melodic, which included the lyrics and beat. This song is not perfect, but it also is not bad. I guess the right wording would be, “You were the best, but you were the worst.”

• us. (ft. Taylor Swift) – 10/10

“That night you were talking false prophets and profits,” sings Abrams and Swift in a duet on the fifth track on the album, “us.” When Abrams first announced Swift’s collaboration on her album, fans were ecstatic. Listening to the song for the first time, I was immediately hooked by how the song had a fast but catchy rhythm, along with a engaging, sharp, raw sound that does not seem supported by many other instruments in the song, only their singing. As the song progresses, it gets louder and heavier which made me even more invested. The bridge sounds beautiful and combined with the lyrics and vocals, the song is satisfying to hear. On June 23, Abrams was able to join Swift onstage while playing their song, “us,” in Wembley Stadium during one of Swift’s London shows on the Eras Tour. This happened during Swift’s surprise song set on the tour, when she brought out Abrams who played the piano, while Swift was playing the guitar. In the lyrics of the song, they are heard reflecting on their past relationship, asking their ex if they still missed how it used to be, with components on what they used to be or what they used to do. At first I rated this song a 9/10, but now I realize that it truly is one of the best tracks on this album. “us” is a no skip song.

• Let It Happen – 6/10

“Let It Happen” is the sixth track on the album. I like it a little bit more than her first track, “Felt Good About You, but not as much. As a whole, this song is just average. There is a slow, mellow guitar beat that complements the encouraging lyrics, which gives the song artistic value and creativity. Abrams talks about how she’s going to let someone waste her time or do big things for them, although they don’t even know each other that well. With the mellow guitar beat and slow sounds, this song isn’t as catchy as the others on the albums. I think that this is more of a style that Abrams does, which could be a hit or miss for me. Sometimes I like the way her style in the song is executed, but sometimes I do not. In this instance, it would probably be in between for me.

• Tough Love – 10/10

In this track, I noticed that the beat was shaky, a bit heavy, and loud at times, which I interpreted as a metaphor for how she is trying to get away from the conflict when she knows it’s her fault. When Abrams is finally called out on her typical, toxic actions throughout the song, the music gets intense and loud, which is part of why this is my favorite track. Mainly, this song is about how Abrams is running away from her problems with her lover, because, “not one of them is cooler than all my friends.” This is my favorite line, and it constantly comes up in the chorus, with reminders of who you are and the feeling of girlhood. These are captivating, yet constant themes that come up in the song, which keep adding on to why this is my absolute favorite track on this album. In my eyes, this song is perfect and no other tracks can truly show the same depth, emotion, feelings, and lyricism as this one. 

• I Knew It, I Knew You – 6/10

Abrams’ eight track on the album, “I Knew It, I Know You,” is another slow, sorrowful song that is definitely in her style. This track has a light, guitar sound to resemble the sad lyrics of Abrams regretting having said something that she did not mean, which causes her to question her former relationship. The message that Abrams is trying to get across is great, but it’s just not something that is working for me. When I rated her sixth track, “Let It Happen,” her style was very much present in that song, as it is now also in this one. This song seems very similar to that track, in terms of the tempo and the mood. This track is a little more upbeat than than other one, but I would say that they are both average and at the same level.

• Gave You I Gave You I – 7/10

With a sad, moody, and longing beat, the ninth track, “Gave You I Gave You I,” explores how Abrams feels like she was only being used by her partner to fill a void in them, while she was actually excited and open to the relationship. When relistening to this song, I realized that it was actually so much more like “Let It Happen” than the last track, “I Knew It, I Knew You” was. Although I’m sometimes not a big fan of her style, this song keeps me way more engaged and interested than the other two tracks. Abrams’ vocals and the lyrics are so much better than I originally thought they were. “Was I just a placeholder to fill the hole inside you,” is now my favorite line of the song. But, it is not as good as some other songs, so for me, this song would be above average.

• Normal Thing – 5/10

“Normal Thing,” the eight track on the “Secret of Us,” has a similar sound to the other it also has less of a loud, attention seeking beat. It mainly just stays like this and flows throughout the whole song, which I like. For the lyrics and message of this song, it describes how a relationship between two people used to be, but now it is not like that because they don’t see each other anymore. Listening to this again, I noticed how Abrams keeps making movie references to describe the relationship, like scripts being in one’s head and how it won’t last forever. My personal favorite reference was when she talked about performing, and how it mainly describes the relationship being displayed in the song, since it is not all true. While I think these references are clever, this is a song in her style is one of my least favorites on the album because of the way it is executed.

• Good Luck Charlie – 4/10

Although this is my least favorite song on the album, the message is a little different, because Abrams is talking about the relationship between two of her close friends had, and how that has affected their friendship separately with her. For storytelling purposes, I think that this is one of the best songs on the album that does this. I am also glad to see that she was taking a new kind of approach with the lyrics, but the rhythm and overall mellow, dramatics sound of the song make it my least favorite on the album, because it sounds just like the other tracks on this album.

• Free Now – 5/10

 “Free Now” is the twelfth track on her album, and this song has a fast beat that is developing over the course of the song, which eventually increases until the end. Besides that, the lyrics explain how one has unhealthy struggles, which start to directly affect one in the relationship, making it easier to find an excuse to break up, making her free from the relationship. Abrams’ vocals and lyrics especially at the end of the song make it really powerful, however the style is executed in a way that I do not really like. I would not listen to this regularly, since it is one of my least rated songs on the album.

• Close To You – 8/10

Finally, with the closing track on this album, “Close To You,” sounds upbeat and fun, which makes it sound more like a general pop song, an anomaly on this album. The song was originally written seven years ago, with Abrams deciding not to release it until June 7, 2024 as a single. This only happened after she let her fans listen to it briefly, in which they begged for the song’s release to come out. The message is about a person wanting to be with someone so badly, even though that person isn’t aware of them. When the song was released, fans began to create buzz around it, even making a high-energy dance that went viral on TikTok to the highly successful song. Everything about this track is amazing to me, but I wouldn’t say that it’s my absolute favorite because it is not the best song in terms of lyrics. I would listen to this, because it is just supposed to be a fun song that people can jam out to with their friends and family once in a while.

As of November 11, 2024, Abrams’ album is at #5 on the Billboard 200, with it being on the chart for 20 weeks. Along with this, the album went up by two charts, making it #7 on the charts the week before. “I Love You, I’m Sorry”, is her top song on Spotify as of November 12, 2024, with 284 million streams. This beat out her first single, “Risk,” that has over 137 million streams. When I saw this I was a bit shocked, but I guess it highlights what the fans truly like, in terms of Abrams and the type of music she makes.

With special appearances, top charts, and special dances being made, “The Secret of Us” has already made an impact in the United States. Abrams is promoting the album on the U.S leg of her The Secret of Us Tour. Her European leg of the tour is scheduled to start on February 9, 2025, and her Australian and New Zealand leg starts on April 29, 2025. It’s no secret that this album has been a big success so far, as it will likely continue to break records.