Music/Album Reviews

It sounds like Gracie Abrams might have learned a thing or two about songwriting while opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour.

I’ve been a Gracie fan for years — her early hit I miss you, I’m sorry holds up as one of the best tracks of her career, and to this day, I hold a soft spot for Rockland, a gloomy, deep-cut from the EP This Is What It Feels Like. That said, I’ve feared in recent years that Abrams has been losing her sound to gauzy synths, clunky vocal layers and production choices that tend to obscure her lovely singing voice and razor-sharp lyrics. Abrams’s first full album, Good Riddance, wasn’t a bad debut by any means, but in the aftermath of its release early last year, it got lost in a thankless sea of similar-sounding lo-fi pop records.

On The Secret of Us, Abrams has taken a courageous step backward with collaborator Aaron Dessner, allowing her warm, husky voice to shine at the centre of nearly every track, unbothered by superfluous production garnishes. It’s significant that Dessner’s on this record — he’s marked a new era of his own career by collaborating with Swift on her most recent records, and it’s thrilling to see him expand his portfolio to Swift acolytes like Abrams. His production choices are consistently generous and smart, enhancing the songs without ever overpowering them.

Within the confines of the indie-pop genre, lead single Risk is, uh, risky — punctuated with twangy acoustic guitar licks and angsty exposed vocals. That sonic nakedness pays off: the track, with its curated blend of analogue and modern sounds, sounds like nothing else on the radio at the moment.

The track us., featuring Taylor Swift, is the most hotly anticipated on this album, and I’m pleased to report it’s as good as one would hope from a collaboration between this pair of musicians. You can hear Swift’s pen in the songwriting — the track’s fiery bridge, in particular, bears Swift’s signature pace and wit — but the song also manages to be sparse and concise in the build-up to its climax, echoing Abrams’s earliest work with an air of nostalgia and grace.

Swift fans who flock to The Secret of Us for its title tune will also enjoy Blowing Smoke, I Love You, I’m Sorry and Let It Happen, three tracks that create a stunning, robust centre for a record that could easily see itself competing for Album of the Year in 2025. When I interviewed Abrams for the Toronto Star in 2023, she said that opening for Swift would be a “master class” in music-making and performing — with The Secret of Us, it’s clear she’s been a top-notch student, borrowing Swift-isms and injecting them with her own esthetic. Freakishly catchy bridges pay homage to esoteric travel routes in New England; Speak Now-esque guitar thrums underscore dark, self-aware brooding. The Secret of Us is alive with cognitive dissonance; it’s a dream of a record.

Keep an eye out for future collaborations between Abrams and her mentor; if we’re lucky, maybe the two will perform us. on the Toronto stops of the Eras Tour this November. Either way, we’re sure to hear much more of this album in the months to come — the record marks a dazzling step forward for Abrams as she continues to approach mega-stardom.