On Monday, April 29, singer songwriter Gracie Abrams announces the release of album “SECRET OF US” with a music video of new single “Risk” coming out May 1st.
The cover shot by photographer Abby Waisler pictures Abrams solely looking away from the camera with mixed emotions not specifically expressed. Big words written in bolded cursive state “The Secret of Us”.
In Abrams’s new single, her conversational lyric style is once again shown through her passionate vocals. “Risk” describes Abrams’s obsessive crush over a stranger and emphasizes the intense emotion of love while recognizing its absurdness. She acknowledges their flaws but counters it with her curiosity in risking her sanity for love. The lyrics “Hopelessly boring without you/ Too soon to tell you I love you” reveals her consuming compulsion with someone she just met.
Music video produced by Audrey Hobert; the storyline follows Abrams anxiously stalking her crush in the darkness of her neighborhood. She then wakes up frantically in her bed with the light on. Close up shots of used items in her room represent the stress of the messy situation she is in. The music intensifies and so does the emotions as Abrams gets dressed while pouring a glass of wine to drink. The next shot of Abrams acknowledging the fourth wall while nervously contemplating opening the door. Symbolically it represents Abrams weighing the risk of seeing who she loves. Walking out in the darkness, an unknown man’s frame appears, and Abrams desperately chases him just to find her in the same bed with the light on that she started in.
She expressively rubs her makeup off, gulps the last bit of her wine, and undresses into monotone clothing. Angerly marching down the dark street, she sees the man enter his house and Abrams follows. She walks into a birthday party while blowing out the candles and smashing the cake. She aggressively crushes the party’s food, chugs the drinks, and destroys the decoration. Close shots depict people’s fear of Abrams’ destructive behavior. She breaks down on the floor passionately expressing her overwhelming love. All of a sudden, Abrams feels a sense of awareness in her ridicoulness and runs to a room. But after seeing a couple comfort each other, she finds her passion back and leaves the room with energy. The party kicks her out to the dark street and Abrams sees her lover again. Changed, she runs the opposite way.
Abrams is well-known for her expressive lyrics in songs seen in her hits “I miss you, I’m sorry” and “Mess it up”. With her new single, she has set the stage for yet another hit album. For girls that scream their love-issues to music, we are counting down the days to June 21st for new material.
