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The singer-songwriter’s intimate pop glows.

The young singer shares a songbook of achingly beautiful ballads.

When Olivia Rodrigo shocked the pop music landscape with her ballad “drivers license,” she drew influence from an unexpected place: Gracie Abrams, an introspective bedroom-pop newcomer with an incredible knack for writing her interior world into a whispered hook—and who had yet to release a debut LP. Good Riddance, Abrams’ first full-length, is a triumph, from coming-of-age rockers (“Difficult”), mournful ruminations on past relationships (“I Know it won’t work”), and guitar ballads (“Full machine”) to the lyrical wisdom that only comes with distance (“You were there all the time/You’re the worst of my crimes/You fell hard/I thought good riddance” in the opener “Best”). Straight from the frank, lushly detailed Taylor Swift school of songwriting, Abrams has clearly learned a thing or two from her tourmate; for good measure, Good Riddance was co-written with one of Swift’s collaborators, Aaron Dessner of The National.

Gracie Abrams may be fresh off her teenage years, but she’s old enough to know risk and reward belong together. That’s part of why she’s done leading with fear on her stripped-down new record The Secret of Us. She tells Apple Music: “This album is kind of like the inner tornado, I guess, when you’re trying to present a way and then it just doesn’t actually really ultimately work.”

Since Abrams began releasing music in 2019, the singer-songwriter has homed in on emotional leaps of faith, her tremulous vocals expertly evoking the tear-splattered diary scribbles a great young love inspires. On The Secret of Us, she takes stock of every crush and contradiction that led her to this chapter, reflecting the glow of formative past romances through soft prisms of pop, folk, and indie rock. The through line between these different shades of Gracie’s warm style, of course, is the kind of intimate writing she developed in a private journal long before songwriting with partners as esteemed as Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift. “I think the most important thing with songwriting, and it’s what we really wanted to do with this album, is just if you can articulate a feeling,” Abrams tells Apple Music. “I’ve always worked with people who I genuinely love and trust. And so, it’s been such a privilege that that’s been the baseline for me, because I know that that’s a really rare thing for young musicians—for musicians, period.”

Anyone who missed Abrams’ coveted stint as an opener on the Eras Tour will welcome Swift’s feature on “us.,” a soaring centerpiece addressed to an older partner Abrams can’t be sure ever took her seriously. She isn’t afraid to face the anxiety around her own legitimacy or face it alone—Swift is the only feature across these 13 tracks. (“She’s been an unbelievable friend to me,” Abrams says of Swift.) But between the cathartic power chords of “Tough Love,” the twinkling balladry of “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” and the delicate simplicity of “Free Now,” the real secret to Abrams’ success shines through in her craftsmanship: She’s as serious as it gets. “I hope I’ll always feel like I’m chasing the next best version or whatever I actually need for myself at any given time with each album that I’m lucky enough to make,” Abrams explains. “But this [album] just matched where I’m at in such a real way.”

虽然刚刚 20 岁出头，但 Gracie Abrams 似乎已足够成熟，明白福祸与共的道理。在新专辑《The Secret of Us》中，她决定不再像往常那样任凭自己被恐惧牵着鼻子走。“这张专辑就像一场内心的龙卷风。”她告诉 Apple Music，“那些你想追逐的风景，往往并不会遂你心愿。”

Abrams 从 2019 年开始发表作品。从那时起，这位唱作歌手一直在精进情感表达技巧，用微颤的歌声书写青春恋爱的伤感日记。在《The Secret of Us》里，她审视一路走来每一段感情中的冲动与纠结，思考过去对现在的影响，在流行、民谣和独立摇滚的旋律间，悉心编织爱的丝线。而这些色彩各异的作品中，埋藏着一条贯穿始终的创作主线——真诚、直面内心。早在与 Aaron Dessner 和 Taylor Swift 等巨星展开合作前，她就已经养成了这种日记式的真挚而私密的写作习惯。“我认为写歌最重要的事就是能准确地表达情感，这也是我和团队想要在这张专辑中达到的目标。”她告诉 Apple Music，“我一直在和我喜爱并且真心信任的人共事，也因为这样，我对自己在创作上定下的标准和要求感到很自豪，我知道对于很多年轻的音乐人，或者说所有的音乐人来说，这都是一件很难得的事。”

如果你错过了 Abrams 在 Taylor Swift 的“Eras”巡回演唱会上的开场表演，那么两人合作的这首《us.》或许能弥补你的遗憾。这是专辑 13 首曲目中唯一的合作曲，Abrams 在其中真情流露地以歌代诉，质问年长的伴侣是否曾认真地对待过她。她不怕面对自己的焦虑，也不害怕自己独自承受这一切。在《Tough Love》酣畅淋漓的和弦、《I Love You, I’m Sorry》刹那的深情、《Free Now》细腻的简约之间，你将发现她成功的秘诀，感受到她对待创作极尽认真负责的心态。“无论何时，我都希望在自己有幸制作的每一张专辑里尽力做到最好，做那些真正需要做的事。”Abrams 表示，“种种意义上，这张专辑都和我现在的状态契合。”