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Music Review: An uninhibited Gracie Abrams finds energy in the chaos on 91ƵThe Secret of Us91Ƶ

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This album cover image released by Interscope Records shows 91ƵThe Secret of Us91Ƶ by Gracie Abrams. (Interscope Records via AP)

Singer-songwriter succumbs to a crush on 91ƵRisk,91Ƶ the lead single of her frantic and melancholic sophomore album, 91ƵThe Secret of Us.91Ƶ

91ƵHeard the risk is drowning / But I91Ƶm gonna take it,91Ƶ she sings atop fast acoustic guitar, her vocals growing more frenetic as the production thickens. 91ƵWatch this be the wrong thing,91Ƶ she exclaims in the chorus.

The track reveals an evolved, but familiar, Abrams. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter has but 91ƵThe Secret of Us91Ƶ is more intimate and less reserved than her previous work. This time, her songs aren91Ƶt recollections of waning heartbreak, long held insecurity or lingering guilt. They91Ƶre happening in real time, developing and dissipating on record.

That immersion is achieved through the album91Ƶs production, a collaboration between Abrams, her longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner and co-writer Audrey Hobert, with cameos from and producer Jack Antonoff.

The great 91ƵBlowing Smoke91Ƶ sets a biting critique of a lost flame to acoustic guitar and hums that are traded for electric instruments and shouts, as Abrams91Ƶ quips lean into frustration.

She belts on 91ƵLet it Happen,91Ƶ where 91ƵTough Love91Ƶ starts with whispers on a train to Boston and ends with a euphoric drum beat and declaration of self-love: 91ƵI know now what I91Ƶm leaving for.91Ƶ

Bonus track 91ƵClose to You,91Ƶ produced by Sam de Jong and reworked after a clip of it went viral, lives more in the magnetic world of Lorde and Ellie Goulding91Ƶs 2010s hits than it does in Abrams91Ƶ own 91Ƶ but showcases a pop persona that peeks through on 91ƵThe Secret of Us.91Ƶ

The urgent melodies and breathless bridges on this confident album are progressed from Abrams91Ƶ past work 91Ƶ when her writerly, soft-sung, 91Ƶsad girl91Ƶ pop music was much more wistful and anxious.

The tracks that exemplify her new personality most clearly 91Ƶ 91ƵRisk,91Ƶ 91ƵBlowing Smoke,91Ƶ 91Ƶus. (feat. Taylor Swift)91Ƶ 91Ƶ are the album91Ƶs most interesting. It91Ƶs 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 album91Ƶs sparkling centerpiece is 91Ƶus. (feat. Taylor Swift).91Ƶ Their voices weave together, harmonizing the album91Ƶs title atop a dreamy acoustic track produced by the duo, Dessner and Antonoff: 91ƵI felt it, you held it, do you miss us, us? / Wonder if you regret the secret of us,91Ƶ 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 Swift91Ƶs it is recognizably Abrams in its youthful and thoughtful angst 91Ƶ as well as those private reflections on unrequited love.

91ƵThe Secret of Us,91Ƶ 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 91Ƶ the frustrations, vanities, chaotic crushes and all 91Ƶ 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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