{2,000 Views Special Pt.2} It's no secret that this album will be a huge hit

Hi! Wow, it's hard to believe that I just reached 2,000 views a few days ago, and now I've already got almost 300 more views since then. This more frequent posting seems to be helping me, but then again, after this special album review trilogy is over (Timeless will be the last one), I probably won't do anything else big like this until Sabrina Carpenter's Short N Sweet releases, and even that'll probably be a short one, unless the title is a trick or something. Anyway, I decided that my next album review should be Gracie Abrams' The Secret of Us. And yes, I know Bubby was also going to do a TSOU review this month, but of course they're also doing TTPD like I did. I don't think there's anything wrong with multiple people reviewing the same album, and in fact I think it'll be kind of interesting to see how the opinions are different. This was a pleasant surprise from Gracie. Now, last year when I was first introduced to her, I thought, "Cool, a great new artist on the rise, but I'm not sure her music will be very successful or anything." And now, she has a song with TAYLOR SWIFT. Sure, Taylor only sings like two lines on it, but still crazy. So, let's get into this new album.

1. Felt Good About You

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, another one of few albums I've listened to where the first song is actually one of the best ones! It actually kind of reminded me of some of the songs from HMHAS, the last album I reviewed, both musically and lyrically. The musical similarities are pretty clear and sound really cool, with a somewhat unusual synth production, but it evolves a lot and in a great way. Lyrically, it's very strong, and like many songs from HMHAS, this tells a story taking place over a long period of time, exploring many aspects of a single concept. It's actually somewhat of a "continuation" of The Blue from Gracie's previous album Good Riddance, beginning with hope and turning into regret and disappointment overtime. Amazing album opener.

2. Risk

My rating: 4/5 Good

Well, this is another one of those situations where the lead single is the most underwhelming song from the album. This is the lead single from the album, and it's still performing decently on Hits 1 right now. It's okay, but not super interesting. Most of the weakness here is the lyrics, which seem somewhat bland in comparison to the other songs on the album. Musically, it's still wonderful, with a perfect evolution. Anyway, pretty good song. Moving on.

3. Blowing Smoke

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, here's another amazing song from the album. From the first listen I didn't love it that much, but I've just decided it's one of my favorites. It's got everything I would expect from a good Gracie song and more. It evolves a lot, and in a great way, finishing in a shockingly climactic ending. Is it just me, or does the production sound almost country here? And one thing this album does great is, just like with HMHAS, telling a story of just about every aspect of love. This one is super relatable, touching on themes of jealousy in an ex's new love interests, which of course is a common theme in songs, but it's done very strongly here, like usual. Fantastic song.

4. I Love You, I'm Sorry

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, this album as a whole was a lot better than I expected, and there's a lot of great songs on it. This of course has the musical evolution I always love to hear in a song, but in my opinion, I think this is lyrically the strongest song on this entire album. It's actually a pretty complex story about a relationship, like many of the songs on here, and the lyrics in this song are particularly nicely written. I don't think I need to say more.

5. Us (featuring Taylor Swift)

My rating: 5/5 Great

Since Hits 1 picked this one up as well, I've reviewed this before, but I'll say it again: Taylor Swift is featured on an album by a new artist I thought nobody knew about a year ago? First it's Ice Spice, and now Gracie Abrams. And this is a fantastic collaboration, even though Taylor doesn't contribute all that much. However, they sound great together when she does. This is the song with the album title: "Wonder if you regret the secret of us?" The lyrics are pretty straightforward; it's essentially just about regret after a relationship. But it's definitely got some strong lyrics, the bridge in particular. I honestly don't mind that Taylor doesn't sing very much on here. (Maybe Gracie was just trying to get Taylor back for how Lana or Post Malone were treated when she collaborated with them.)

6. Let It Happen

My rating: 4/5 Good

This one is okay, but another slightly less great one. The production here actually sounds quite good, but maybe would have benefited from a bit more evolution. And the lyrics are again pretty well-written, but definitely could have been better. It's still another relatable song about the complexities of a relationship, but I guess it just wasn't quite as interesting compared to some of the others. Still quite good tho.

7. Tough Love

My rating: 3/5 Decent

So far, much like HMHAS, we haven't had a song that wasn't at least decent, which is pretty good. This one is also alright, but admittedly kind of boring. I like the lyrics here about moving on from a relationship. Most of my issue is with the production. It feels empty somehow, and the melodies here are much less interesting. It's also pretty short, and I feel like it kind of ends before it really has a chance to develop enough. It could have been a great song, but it's not like it's bad or anything. It's just a bit boring.

8. I Knew It, I Know You

My rating: 5/5 Great

This one reminds me of I Know It Won't Work, for a few reasons: the title, the key, the production, and I guess the lyrics have some similar themes of conflicting thoughts about getting together with an ex. Also, the video that I watched for this song shows Gracie riding on a horse, which is an obvious reference to the IKIWW music video. Even though they're similar, since I loved IKIWW, obviously this song has to be at least kinda good, right? Well, I actually think it's an improvement over IKIWW. I feel like the lyrics are stronger, and even the production sounds slightly more interesting than that of IKIWW. Great song.

9. Gave You I Gave You I

My rating: 5/5 Great

Ok, nevermind what I said about the video for that last song. I was going to say the video for this one also had a reference to the IKIWW video because it's a video of Gracie walking on a beach while holding a stick, but I instantly knew that these videos I was watching had to just be fanmade lyrics videos based on old videos of Gracie, as soon as I noticed the lyrics spelled "erasing" as "earasing". (At least it's the right music... hopefully.) As for this song, it's another great one. This one is a breakup song about being used in a relationship, and the lyrics are on-point. The production seems to perfectly reflect on the lyrics as well, and everything sounds great at that. Yet another amazing song from Gracie.

10. Normal Thing

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is another amazingly relatable song. Honestly, it might just be my favorite song on the album (but ILYIS is really close). It's basically another complex relationship song about when not everything meets expectations, which can lead to heartbreak. Unlike ILYIS where the complexity is what makes the lyrics shine, the lyrics for this one are effective because they're simple. And the production... wow. It perfectly fits the song, and it doesn't overpower the lyrics but still evolves nicely. That's all I have to say about that one.

11. Good Luck Charlie

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, I was not expecting a song like this. Most of this album is about Gracie's personal experiences in relationships, but this right here is a very interesting concept. It's about witnessing the breakup of a relationship between two of her friends Audrey & Charlie, and she's confirmed that this song is completely unrelated to the Disney show of the same title. It's essentially about feeling sorry for them, but also wishing them well at the same time. Obviously the lyrics are what really shine here, but the production also sounds great. More great music from Gracie Abrams.

12. Free Now

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is the last song on the album that I have never reviewed before. And... wow, it might be another one of my favorites. It's another one of those songs that's kind of split into two different sections, beginning with a reflection on a difficult relationship, but ending hopeful now that she's free because it wasn't healthy for either of them. And it evolves beautifully. I love the production throughout, especially in the second half. Really cool stuff.

13. Close to You

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, we've arrived at the end of the album! This song was apparently not intended to be on the album, since it was written so long ago, but I'm glad it was included because it's fantastic. Production-wise, it kind of reminds me of Ariana's WCBF, starting softer but then picking up and adding a synth beat, and it might be even better here. It definitely has better lyrics than WCBF, about wanting to do anything to be with someone, and the lyrics in the chorus are just amazing: "I'd give up everything to be close to you / Pull the trigger on the gun I gave you when we met / Just let me be close to you / Break my heart and start a fire you got me overnight". I'm so glad she included this song on the album, and also released it as a single, because it's another favorite of mine. (Wow, for the first time in a while, one of my favorite songs on an album is actually a single.)

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 92% (Great Album)

Wow, it's great to see that every album I've ever reviewed on my blog has been rated as "great"! We still have yet to see an album get below an 88% average score on this blog. Although this album certainly had its less fantastic moments, overall it was pretty amazing. The final addition to my 2,000 views album review trilogy, Timeless, will be out tomorrow, and then after that I'm going to be a bit more busy for the rest of this week so I actually might have to delay my next countdown post (sorry).

Favorite songs: I Love You I'm Sorry, Normal Thing, Free Now

"Least" favorite song: Tough Love

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!