Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift. Getty Photos(2)
The primary official collaboration between Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift is lastly in our ears.
Abrams, 24, launched her sophomore album, The Secret of Us, on Friday, June 21, which included her duet with Swift, 34, known as “Us.”
Though Swift’s voice can solely be heard scattered all through, her signature type is everywhere in the monitor which serves as a retrospective of a failed relationship that burned out vibrant and rapidly.
“Do you miss us?” Abrams and Swift each ask within the refrain. “I felt it / You held it / Do you miss us? / Surprise in case you remorse the key of us.”
The second verse feels paying homage to songs off Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Division, which she launched in April. “It felt like one thing previous / It felt like one thing holy, like souls bleeding / So it felt like what I’ve recognized,” the duo sing. “You’re 29 years previous / So how are you going to be so chilly after I open my residence?”
The pre refrain that follows is the place Swift’s vocals grow to be extra outstanding. “And if historical past’s clear, the flames at all times find yourself in ashes / And what appeared like destiny, give it 10 months and also you’ll be previous it / Babylon lovers hanging, missed calls on the road / I gave you mine,” the lyrics learn.
The monitor ends with Abrams posing one final flurry of questions. “I felt it, you held it, do you miss us?” she asks. “The ache of, the reign of, the flame of us? / The define, properly, generally, do you miss us? / The very best form, properly, generally, do you miss us?”
The music is cowritten by Abrams, Swift and frequent Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner, cofounder of The Nationwide. The trio additionally produced the monitor with Swift’s different longtime collaborator, Jack Antonoff.
Abrams just lately defined how “Us” got here collectively fairly serendipitously.
“One thing caught our ear on the similar time very onerous and quick,” Abrams instructed Billboard about working with Dessner, 48. “So we ran to the piano and began scripting this music.”
Abrams added, “I used to fantasize about that type of a factor as a child.”
Dessner — who produced 12 of the 13 songs on The Secret of Us — gushed in regards to the expertise of seeing Abrams and Swift come collectively artistically.
“It was simply actually enjoyable to observe the chemistry of Gracie and Taylor bouncing off one another,” Dessner instructed Billboard. “Gracie in whole surprise and awe watching how Taylor data and produces her vocal performances and builds the world.”
Dessner coproduced and cowrote Swift’s 2020 albums, Folklore and Evermore, along with having a significant hand in her most up-to-date album, The Tortured Poets Division.
Abrams and Swift have developed a friendship since Abrams opened for Swift on the primary North American leg of her Eras Tour — however the entire thing virtually went up in flames.
At a latest ceremonial dinner hosted at Swift’s Tribeca residence, Abrams mentioned a candle tipped over round 6 a.m. after an evening of partying and ingesting. Swift, pondering quick on her ft, picked up a hearth extinguisher to treatment the doubtless harmful state of affairs.
“She was such a legend,” Abrams instructed Billboard. “I don’t know the way at this hour or in our state she knew what to do.”
Although Abrams added, “We each had an insane cough from the fireplace extinguisher fumes for weeks.”
Abrams will return to the street with Swift later this yr to open for her on the ultimate North American dates of the Eras Tour. The Secret of Us is on the market now.
