Gracie Abrams has a certain way of writing songs that feels so personal to her audience. Over the recent years, her music has evolved from quiet heartbreak to full emotional healing. And somehow, each one of her projects feels like such a significant need for her listeners today. Between her two EPs (Minor and This Is What It Feels Like) and her two albums (Good Riddance and The Secret of Us), there’s an undertone of vulnerability that brings every part of it together. But some projects hit harder than others. Here is how I’d rank her discography, from my least favorite to the one that completely wrecked me.
- The Secret of Us (2024)
Although The Secret of Us is easily her most popular release so far, it’s the one that strays the farthest from her typical writing. Songs like “Risk” and “Close to You” are easily made for the radio, but the album itself leans more towards pop than heartbreak. Even though she blends the two together with sad lyrics and an upbeat style, the two don’t mix well most of the time. While the upbeat energy is refreshing, it does lose some of that emotional rawness that set her earlier work apart from other artists. She is clearly experimenting and growing in her style of music as her career continues on, so this new style might just feel not well-worked on just yet. In an interview about her newly released album, Abrams told Billboard, “We just had a good time realizing that we can make things that sound totally different.”
- This Is What it Feels Like (2021)
This EP feels like the middle child of her discography. It presents a mix of self-doubt, nostalgia, and a quiet kind of confidence. It’s really relatable for teenage girls growing up and figuring themselves out. With lyrics that range from struggling with friends, insecurities, relationships, and feeling lost, this project explores internal conflict and even self-reflection. Songs like “Camden” and “Better” show how she’s learning to process emotions without relying on another person in a very mature sense. However, some tracks can start to blend together with their similarity in the same sort of whispery and soft tone, which makes it harder for individual songs to stand out. It’s a great piece of her work, just not her most impact against the others.
She shares her thoughts about this item of music in an interview with NME. “At that time in my life I was definitely sorting through a lot mentally and emotionally, that I think I needed to do some more work on myself before even having the intention of sitting down and starting something.”
- Minor (2020)
Gracie’s debut EP Minor might be short, but every track on it cuts deep. There are only seven songs, yet each one of them hits, which says a lot when being compared to other projects with double the tracks. This EP perfectly frames that kind of heartbreak that represents being young in a certain way that you can romanticize. The production is lighter, giving it that nostalgic ‘bedroom-pop’ vibe in an innocent teenage heartbreak kind of way. This is easily her most honest, unfiltered, and timeless project.
- Good Riddance (2023)
Coming out at the top, Good Riddance, is Gracie Abrams at her most vulnerable and emotionally raw state. The album was produced with Aaron Dessner (who also worked on similar projects with Taylor Swift), who helped make the album sound perfectly delicate and cinematic. The whole album feels like a confession with the way she writes her vivid imagery and gut-wrenching metaphors. Lyrically, it’s heightened in the best way above the others because of the specific lines. The album also stretches from a short range of emotions, but every song sounds like a different kind of hurt. Every song on the album represents a different perspective of pain, so there’s a song for every scenario. The album feels like the writer is breaking down with every line but also reconstructing herself at the same time, and that’s what really sets this project apart from the others.
What’s so unique about Gracie Abrams is that every release feels like a new chapter in her diary that is shared with her fans. Every project is a new view into the emotional process of hurting and growth. Minor was the first heartbreak. This Is What It Feels Like was learning who she was alone. Good Riddance was a deep reflection on the emotional wreckage of letting someone go and growing through the hardships of life. And the Secret of Us feels like her testing out joy again. You can literally hear her grow through her music, and no matter what era you prefer, that’s what makes her discography so special.
