Heartbreak, Healing, and a Dash of Sass: Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us (Deluxe) is an Emotional Glow-Up
There’s no other way to put it – Gracie Abrams is living in her I Made It era.
Her sold-out headlining Secret of Us Tour just wrapped up its US leg, she’s back on The Eras Tour as the sole opener (with crowds 65K+ singing back every word of her songs), I Love You, I’m Sorry is charting in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 – and she’s just released the highly anticipated deluxe version of her stunning sophomore album.
The Secret of Us (Deluxe), released 18 October, is perfectly crafted to enhance every raw, real emotion on the original album. The deluxe edition of the album is everything from dreamy to uninhibited, with the additions of cutting Cool, acoustic-pop That’s So True, heart-wrenching I Told You Things, and soft Packing It Up, along with ethereal live versions of previously released I Love You, I’m Sorry, I Knew It, I Know You, and Free Now.
Gracie closes the standard album with a sense of healing from past heartbreaks in the form of Free Now and Close to You, but Cool kicks off the deluxe tracks with a stark, biting return to heartbreak. Debuted as a surprise piano song on The Secret of Us Tour in Chicago, Cool shows us a new side of Gracie – one who isn’t to be messed with. Often self-deprecating or painting relationships past with soft-spoken regret, Abrams emerges now as scorned and shameless, about as far from her timid past as she can be. Much like when she spewed the line “If she’s got a pulse I bet she meets your standards now” in Blowing Smoke, she strikes where it hurts: from name-dropping a laundry list of her exes’ exes to her scoffing “Say you miss me, you’re sad/Yeah, I bet you are,” Cool sees Gracie crafting a declaration that heartbreak won’t define her, but rather fuel her fire, marking a bold new chapter in her artistry where vulnerability meets defiance.
While TSOU lead single Risk was undoubtedly melodramatic, the deluxe track, That’s So True, makes Risk look like a walk in the park. The track was teased acoustically at Gracies stripped-back release show with best friend/roommate/cowriter Audrey Hobart and on a handful of stops on The Secret of Us Tour this fall. Now with sparkly, spunky acoustic-pop production by none other than her consistent collaborator and producer Aaron Dessner, Thats So True shines as one of the stand-outs of the full Secret of Us project. This track has already found its home on Gracies Eras Tour setlist thanks to its girly, gossipy tone and utterly scream-sing-able “oooh”-based melodies, with lyrics like “But I think I like her, she’s so fun/Wait, I think I hate her/I’m not that evolved, I’m sorry” and “You’re an idiot, now I’m sure/Now I’m positive, I should go and warn her.”
Rounding out the new releases on the deluxe album are I Told You Things and Packing It Up, which reach either end of the emotional spectrum. I Told You Things is seeped in loneliness, loss, and longing while Packing It Up sees Gracie finding long-awaited solace in affection and admiration for someone who “fits perfectly.”
The Secret of Us (Deluxe) concludes with a three-track run of Live from Vevo performances of standard album tracks I Love You, I’m Sorry, I Knew It, I Know You, and Free Now. Live tracks are often overlooked, but thanks to a powerful note-change in the live version of I Love You, I’m Sorry, this song took the second-highest debut for a live song on Spotify ever, only behind Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer – Live from TS | The Eras Tour. Abrams is an artist who lives and breathes her live shows in every single song she releases, and the palpable emotion, silky vocals, and rich instrumentals present in the live recordings of I Knew It, I Know You and Free Now are only a further display of her talents as an ever-blossoming artist.
Gracie Abrams’s deluxe edition of The Secret of Us is guided by vulnerability, trust in her small but tight-knit group of collaborators, her acoustic-pop niche, and a fresh honesty about leaning into your deepest, most all-consuming emotions.
Abrams’ sophomore album is undoubtedly her best work yet, and the new additions to the standard album add a sparklingly refreshing new chapter to the stories of love, loss, and growth across The Secret of Us.
