Gracie Abrams graced this summer with the release of her sophomore album “The Secret of Us,” which earned the singer-songwriter her first top 20 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. On Oct. 18, she completed the album with a deluxe version, adding four new, good but not entirely necessary songs.
Abrams embraces a synth-pop, radio-friendly sound that I generally like and the album produced some of my summer favorites — “Blowing Smoke,” “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Felt Good About You.” While her debut “Good Riddance” is meant to be listened to in a low hum to underscore your most introspective moments, “The Secret of Us” is an album meant to be blasted at full volume in the car (or dorm room — sorry, Emily).
I do not believe that the four new songs on the deluxe edition added anything particularly different to the album. For the most part, it seems right that these tracks were left off of the original, which includes stronger songs, both musically and lyrically.
The big exception is “That’s So True,” a song about seeing an ex with a new person, that has become my — and TikTok’s — favorite. This song was written with her best friend, and you can tell. I am obsessed with how obnoxiously fun this song is. I love Abrams’ tone when she sings lines like “But I think I like her, she’s so fun/Wait, I think I hate her, I’m not that evolved.” Though, this song is musically reductive of an earlier track, “Risk.”
“Packing It Up” is an enjoyable closing song about falling in love unexpectedly. I like the simplicity of the guitar; the song suits her voice well and feels reminiscent of her debut album. The lyrics are also really cute: “Now I’m red in the face, I’m shy all of a sudden/You move, I move, it’s something, you fit perfectly/And replace every game, you push none of my buttons/And hold me through the morning, kinda new for me.” Thematically, this song does not stray far from the original closer “Close To You.”
The other two songs, “Cool” and “I Told You Things,” are also good, but there is not much more to say about them. For many of Abrams’ other songs, I find myself continuously replaying, however, I have not felt as drawn to these tracks. “I Told You Things” blends together the softer voice found on Abrams’ previous releases with the newer, synth-pop backtrack in an interesting way, but the music gets too busy sounding towards the middle of the song. The lyrics of “Cool” fall short for me.
The deluxe album additionally included three “Live From Vevo” performances. “I Love You, I’m Sorry” — a sonic sequel to her 2020 masterpiece “i miss you, i’m sorry” — is the best of the three. The new opening is more grand with the addition of orchestral instruments and I appreciate that she made different vocal choices.
Maybe I just need to get myself more acquainted with these new tracks and how they fit with the overall album. I am happy to get more music from Abrams, but these songs are incomparable to the original album and I came away feeling largely unsatisfied.
Also, on the off chance Gracie is reading this: please release “In Between.”
