Gracie Abrams Finally Releases The Track Fans Begged For

American singer Gracie Abrams is solidifying her position as “one of pop’s buzziest young artists”, as well as one of the most compelling songwriters of the new generation with her most recent single, ‘Close to You’. 

Abrams has been releasing folk and indie pop music since 2019 and has worked on pieces with Aaron Dessner, who famously works regularly with Taylor Swift and shares his band Big Red Machine with Bon Iver’s own Justin Vernon. Abrams has noted publicly she admires and is greatly inspired by Swift as well as multi-instrumentalist folk artist Joni Mitchell.

Abrams’ current genre is familiar to Lizzie McAlpine and Phoebe Bridgers fans alike: she’s unafraid to be vulnerable and heartbreaking. ‘Close to You’, however, takes us down a musical path we have not yet seen from Abrams. The newest form of vulnerability she is providing for us is through a relationship that hasn’t even begun: her yearning, desire, and most of all, the fact that she’s having fun. The song is upbeat, unashamed, romantic, and full of moments meant for dancing and screaming along to.

“I burn for you / And you don't even know my name / If you asked me to / I'd give up everything”.

Abrams herself admitted that ‘Close to You’ was never supposed to be released. She admitted to her Instagram followers that the 20-second clip she originally posted of the song was “from a different time entirely”, seven years ago to be exact. She finally added the track to her upcoming sophomore album ‘The Secret of Us’ after years of fans begging for its release. She told Rolling Stone that now she can look at the encouragement she has received from those fans who “still want to hear the song after all this time”, which makes her “want to dance with them”. The album itself is a new direction for Abrams, as she leans into her pop influences.

Speaking of pop, ‘Close to You’ was produced by Sam de Jong, who has worked with Abrams on multiple tracks in her discography, but also other artists like pop icons MARINA, Little Mix, and One Direction’s own Niall Horan. This direct lean into pop shows Abrams’ versatility and creativity as an artist. The song is already trending on TikTok and is rising up to be one of the songs of the summer.

Abrams’ new album ‘The Secret of Us’ comes out June 21st and we are eager to see her transformation in real-time as a musician. She also kicks off her U.S. tour this September with support from singer Role Model and will herself be supporting Taylor Swift on the Canada leg of The Eras Tour this fall. 

You can find the countdown for her album release here.

Molly Spencer

@mollyspencr

Image: ‘The Secret of Us’ Official Album Cover