After I witnessed Gracie Abrams sing “That’s So True” and “Packing It Up” live at Radio City Music Hall, I think I changed as a person. There was something so beautiful about thousands of fans screaming the lyrics to one unreleased track and then quietly waving their flashlights to the other. When rewatching the shaky videos on my phone was no longer enough, I anxiously anticipated the deluxe album’s release. “The Secret of Us,” released on June 21, got me through the summer, and I needed “The Secret of Us (Deluxe)” to get me through the fall.
And so far, it has done just that. The album has four new songs and three live tracks, all adding a depth of character and personality to the original release. It is clear that first and foremost, Abrams is a songwriter. While Abrams’ original album mastered heartbroken and angsty lyrics, the deluxe supplements it with humor and lightheartedness.
Her delivery is what makes the tracks so addicting, and you truly have to listen to the lyrics to get the full experience. In “Cool,” the way she sings “maybe, baby” at the beginning of the post-choruses is the vocal equivalent of watching ASMR videos. She even punctuates the end of her verses with phrases filled with certainty and attitude, singing, “Yeah, time can do somethin’ funny, it can change my mind / Thank God,” or “A waste of running mascara, you thought we wouldn’t talk / Thought wrong.” Every word of Abrams’ lyrics is intentional, making it so relatable to her fanbase. It’s moments like this that make the deluxe version so easy to scream-sing in the car or lip-sync down the street.
Abrams weaves humor throughout her tracks and is so successful at sticking the landing because of how simply honest they are. In “That’s So True,” she sings about an ex-boyfriend’s new girl, saying, “But I think I like her, she’s so fun / Wait, I think I hate her, I’m not that evolved.” She calls her ex an “an idiot,” and in “Cool” she calls him a “phony superstar.” Her punchy lyrics stand out because they are intertwined with the more serious ones.
On my current favorite track, “I Told You Things,” Abrams sings, “I told you things that I never said / To anybody else, I regret them.” In this final chorus, these lyrics are backed by the most gorgeous, whimsical blend of instrumentals pushed forward by a quick drumbeat. It’s the best 41 seconds of the entire album. The song starts off soft and regretful, and by the end is sonically and lyrically complex, hinting at hope despite the regret of this past relationship.
“Packing It Up” is the final new track on the deluxe album and the perfect closure. It talks about the pure happiness of a new relationship and is the beginning of a new journey in Abrams’ life. “I hope that you get my dark sense of humor / Sunsets in the summer with my family / Don’t stop talking to me, and maybe stay here forever / We could die here together, I’d do it happily” — It’s pure hope and infatuation when the other tracks are angry and angsty. Listening to it now feels exactly how it did when I heard it live, except the piano accompaniment is now a guitar. Yet, the awe I feel while listening never changes.
While the original album would have been a perfect release, “The Secret of Us (Deluxe)” includes three live versions of some of her most popular songs: “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” “I Knew It, I Know You” and “Free Now.” Live releases may be some of the most underrated inclusions to a deluxe track and are just what this album needed. Her voice is raw and unedited, vulnerably encapsulating the emotions of these tracks in a way that a studio version sometimes cannot. It gives a concert experience to those who have never seen her live, and allows me to reminisce on a night that I am desperately to relive.
Contact Emily Genova at [email protected].
