Hi, everyone. Godthony Whytano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Gracie Abrams' album, The Secret of Us.

Gracie Abrams is a singer and a songwriter who has been operating for a handful of years now, making waves within the burgeoning alt pop scene with some EPs that dropped at the dawn of the 2020s, then graduating to full-length album status in 2023 with the record Good Riddance, which featured high-grade instrumentation from indie production heavyweights such as James McAllister, as well as Aaron Dessner of the National fame.

The backdrop of her latest record here is even more impressive and star-studded with, additionally, Jack Antonoff and Justin Vernon.

I don't know. At some point in this review, we have to address the elephant in the room, so might as well do it now as Gracie is the daughter of director, JJ Abrams. Look, regardless of whether or not you want to interpret it as a good or a bad thing, clearly, Gracie is coming from a place of incredible luxury, given that so early on in her career, she's been blessed to be able to have her songs assembled and produced by some of the most in demand talents in the industry.

I mean, we can pooh-pooh the situation and the privilege of the dynamic here as much as we want, but no doubt many of you would jump at the opportunity to do the same thing were it offered to you. I'm not really here to assess that element of Gracie's music, though, because ultimately what matters is whether or not the songs and the talent and the performances are there on this new round of tracks. And in my opinion, they're just not.

In fact, I think Gracie is the most creatively bankrupt artist we've seen get this big since Greta Van Fleet. Yeah, it's like a Gracie Van Fleet situation. And I mean, look, Gracie would not be the first artist out there in music today to wear her influences on her sleeve. In fact, I feel like that's how most creators start out. But I feel like what we're getting on this level is a songwriter who is still creatively at the incubation stage, but it's being presented to us with a professional sound on the production side. So there's a mismatch there because on some level, while the instrumentation and the mixing does sound good, on the vocal side, Gracie doesn't really have much to offer us other than a faux-moody, super breathy Lorde impression, being executed over songs that sound like they're from the Taylor Swift Speak Now era. And all of this is backed with a bunch of soft focus, acoustic instrumental beds that feel like what plays in the background during the more emotional scenes on Gilmore Girls.

Ultimately, for me, the argument isn't necessarily whether or not this album is terrible. It's more just a question of why does this even exist? Because everything Gracie is doing on this record is already out there and still being created created by the very contemporary artists that she's blatantly ripping off. The style is obviously derivative. The instrumentation, while it does sound clean, it's pretty toothless and soulless. And the songs aren't really that sharp either. And the moments that do pop just feel like they were lifted, again, straight from the Taylor Swift playbook.

I will admit, when it comes to lyrics, it does seem like Gracie Abrams graduated with high honors from the Taylor Swift School of mining memorable and emotionally painful moments from your relationships and putting them into a song. And Gracie does have the capacity to capture some very sad, hushed moments like that of what you might hear on a Phoebe Bridger's record, maybe Olivia Rodrigo, too, in some of her more low-key moments.

But again, that just further illustrates that no matter what Gracie does on this record, it's already out there and much better. In fact, there is a Taylor Swift feature on this record, of all things. Obviously, that feature is going to drive a lot attention to this record. Gracie has opened up for Taylor in the past as well. No doubt this has been a huge leg up to her career in general. But I feel like this appearance and this collaboration only further illustrates how little daylight there is creatively between what Taylor is doing and what Gracie is attempting to do. I mean, even the final track on this thing sounds like a Midnights leftover.

So yeah, again, while there are some moments on the lyrical side that to me read just real as fuck, like the first track or "Gave You, I Gave you", I'm going to need more than that for a notable, exciting, passionate, interesting album because on every other front, this LP is painfully average and obviously lacking. And honestly, it's just shocking just how huge Gracie has gotten just through, creatively speaking, being Taylor Swift's baby.

Because despite this record being one of the biggest releases of the week, it doesn't really have much of an appeal beyond that, which is why I'm feeling a decent two strong three on this one.

Have you given this album a listen? Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best. What should I review next? Hit the like if you like. Please subscribe and please don't cry. Hit the bell as well. Over here next to my head is another video to check out. Hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel. Anthony Fantano. Gracie Abrams. Forever.