Aaron Dessner

Week 26: Gracie Abrams- The Secret of us

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Gracie Abrams’ journey into music started when she was five when she picked up her father’s electronic drum pad. It would lead to touring with Taylor Swift almost 20 years later, where she would be the opening support act for Taylor on her “Eras” tour. As you already know, the other support act was Sabrina Carpenter. I could only imagine that Gracie must have been looking out at the packed stadiums, astounded by the experience, which she probably thought might never have happened once, let alone 30 times. She would write her first song three years after being drawn to her father’s electronic drum pad. That eventually led to the Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. This year, she also made her television debut by performing on the Tonight Show presented by Jimmy Fallon—a far cry from her debut live performance back in 5th grade at school.

Back in 2020, she hosted a modest concert over Zoom when the world was locked down due to the pandemic. The venue was her childhood bedroom, and the performance was viewed by only 100 people using the application. She described the experience as “weird” and expressed that she hadn’t expected to achieve what she did at that point. Gracie was inspired to play the guitar after listening to the late Elliott Smith. He was a young man with a troubled soul who died (Although no one knows if he was murdered.)before his time, yet he inspired many through his brief career as a songwriter.

During her teenage years, she explored other artists’ music, like Radiohead and The Beatles, and even covered their songs. However, when she came across Phoebe Bridgers on Soundcloud, everything changed for her. Her deep admiration for Phoebe greatly influenced her debut album.

Her latest album, “The Secret of Us,” establishes her as a country-pop icon who emotionally connects with younger listeners. The lead single “Risk” incorporates elements reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, the rebel and poet Patti Smith, and the emotive style of the late Elliott Smith. However, the catchy, pop-friendly chorus offsets the melancholic themes found in the works of these artists.

In her second album, the artist shifted to a brighter and more distinctive sound than her debut, “Good Riddance.” The opening track, ‘Felt Good About You,’ draws inspiration from the jangly guitars reminiscent of Vampire Weekend and Taylor Swift-like choruses throughout the album. In ‘Blowing Smoke,’ she incorporates country tones from Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette’s rock attitude. Additionally, there’s a reference to Kate Bush’s iconic song ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God),’ where she mentions the title within the lyrics.

In her debut album, I previously mentioned that Phoebe Bridgers was a heavy influence. This is evident on tracks like ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ and ‘Good Luck Charlie’, where her influence is obvious. Jack Antonoff, who interestingly also works with Taylor Swift, contributed his signature production style to the album. Aaron Dessner of The National, who also collaborates with Taylor Swift, co-produced the album, making it more pop-friendly compared to his usual work. This contrasts sharply with his work with his own band. You can hear influences from R.E.M in ‘Tough Love’ and ‘Normal Thing’. The latter sounds similar to Jamie XX. ‘Normal Thing’ stands out to me as favourite, partly because it sounds completely different from the rest of the album and is more uplifting with its dance beats.

Let’s face it: Phoebe Bridgers is a complicated person to emulate. Only a few artists break through after a debut album. Usually, it’s the second album onwards, where you iron out the mistakes made on the debut. Gracie has achieved this on her second album, and it is a far cry from sitting in her room learning to cover iconic songs from the artists and bands she listened to as a teenager. You can see she borrows elements from all of them to create her own identity. Her parents’ musical tastes can also be heard on the record, but her music is a blend of Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers. Taylor Swift also appears on ‘us’, which reflects this. The experience of being on tour with Taylor has inspired her songwriting for this album, and she has more confidence in her delivery. The vocals are a lot stronger. This may not be her most iconic record, but it lays the foundations for the future.

Song recommendations: ’Normal Thing’, ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’, ‘Risk’

7/10

Week 17: Taylor Swift- The Tortured Poets Department

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Are you a fan of Taylor Swift? If so, you’ll be thrilled to hear about the release of “The Tortured Poets Department”. This album is eagerly anticipated by fans who loved her recent releases, “Midnights,” “Speak Now,” and “1989,” which included bonus tracks from re-recordings of the previous two. With Jack Antonoff returning as the producer and Aaron Dessner, the National’s guitarist, this album will surely be a hit. Featuring a mix of synthesisers, country/folk-inspired tracks, and piano ballads, it’s a return to Taylor’s roots and her intimate gigs in Nashville. The album has no significant hits, but the songs are perfect for those calming moments during her live shows. The lyrics are thought-provoking and melancholic, with the occasional use of foul language. Taylor also takes a shot at Matty Healy, the frontman of the 1975, with whom she briefly had a relationship, which adds an element of controversy to the album. My favourite is ‘Robin,’ but many tracks on the album have deep lyrical content.

Song recommendations: ‘Robin’, ‘Peter’, ‘The Manuscript’

7/10

Week 27: Taylor Swift- Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

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Here is another instalment of Taylor reworking her original albums after…well., you already know from the last reviews she was being held to ransom over her masters and found a way around it thanks to her solicitor and someone asking permission to use one of her songs, from the originals on television. I have enjoyed what is known as “Taylor’s Version” because everything is better. The vocals, the matured vocal delivery, the production, the professionalism, and the overall clean audio.

The opener is ‘Mine’, and immediately the album catches my ears for how much cleaner it sounds compared to the original, and I like Taylor’s more mature delivery. There is no teenage angst. The reworks stand out more because Taylor has collaborations, and Hayley Williams from Paramore is on ‘Castles Crumbling”.One of my favourites is ‘When Emma Falls in Love’- a soft piano ballad with tender but heart-aching vocals.

As you know from the originals, there was a lot of pent-up anger in her vocals. Still, on the reworks, she has changed that with tenderness and empathy, which is clearly on display in ‘Ours’, and her vocal delivery is done with more meaning now on ‘Enchanted’ as the track arrives at the bridge. There are even lyric changes, as found on another of my favourites, the full-on rock attitude of ‘Better than Revenge’ where she changes the song’s perspective to make the male the antagonist, rather than the female who originally was where she was slut-shamed. 

There is also a collaboration with Fall Out Boy on ‘Electric Touch’ where Taylor exchanges verse with Patrick Stump( Who also plays the guitar) before they sing the chorus together. There is room for the National’s Aaron Dessner to play multiple instruments across ten tracks. He also co-wrote ‘Electric Touch’ and ‘Foolish One’. The producer is, once again, Jack Antonoff, who made a mess of “Midnights” but gets the production on point this time. He plays multiple instruments on the record and even does some backing vocals.

I also enjoyed ‘Back to December’ and ‘Dear John’ simply for their vocal maturity. After all the shit she has been through with Scooter, you wouldn’t be surprised if her vocals displayed raw anger, but no, she has done these reworks like the mature songwriter she now is. Another thing worth mentioning on the above tracks is the new arrangements where Taylor can show more vocal diversity now. ‘Sparks Fly’ is the only track where Taylor could have improved. The rest of the album is brilliant, and I cannot recommend it enough. I love these “Taylor’s Version” and am only a fan of her country days. That speaks volumes to just how good they have been so far.

Song recommendations: ‘Better than Revenge’, ‘Dear John’, ‘When Emma Falls in Love’

9/10

Week 16: Taylor Swift- Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

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This is the most reviews I’ve done on any artist or band since I first started in 2017. Now, this one is a bit of the same old same old because “Fearless” was initially released in 2008 (Her second album), but if you have been watching Why Taylor’s Version was released, you will know why it is slightly different to the original. In 2019, Scooter Braun bought Big Machine Records, to whom Taylor was signed and promptly started acting like a fucking dickhead. He acquired all of Taylor’s masters from “Fearless” and the five following records (She will be re-recording those albums, too). Scooter made this an issue and held Taylor to ransom over the masters. However, Taylor, probably seeking the advice of a solicitor, did something very clever last year. A film company approached her to use her songs from “Fearless”. Upon doing this, she acquired a Synycronisation licence, separate from the audio licence necessary to play her music over the radio and other audio methods, including live performances. So Taylor, sick of the bullshit treatment from Scooter’s label, then got the Syncronisation licence and, from there, was permitted to use her music again.

The biggest issue for Taylor was being young and naive; she signed away the ownership to her masters when she was 15 and pretty much only just signed to Big Machine. How is that possible? Well, basically, by getting the other licence, she made the original masters redundant. She now had the autonomy to re-record those six albums and completely fuck over Scooter for trying to fuck her over. It didn’t help that Scooter is the manager of Kanye West, who we all remember from his storming the stage as she won an award. However, Taylor is now back in control of the masters through this intelligent move. However, they have been re-recorded to stop Scooter from profiting from the original masters through streaming apps, YouTube, airplay, et Cetera. 

There’s not much to say about “Fearless” apart from Taylor’s Version, which is more fine-tuned with smoother vocals than when she originally recorded it. The teenager who went to the studio in 2007 cannot be recaptured on the re-recording, but it’s all the better because her vocals are much more robust 14 years on.

Of course, as you may remember from my last review of hers, I liked ‘Love Story’ off “Fearless”. However, although I listened to the whole album on Taylor’s Version, it mostly stayed the same for me, albeit with the richer vocals after years of honing her craft. The record started to get my interest from tracks 21 to 26, known as the “From the Vault” section. These are demos from the “Fearless” sessions finally recorded to the standard they were not all those years ago. My favourites are ‘You All Over Me’ featuring Maren Morris, ‘We Were Happy’ and ‘Don’t You’.

As for production, despite bringing in Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, it is similar, except for where Taylor agreed with the producers that they could improve the sound quality. Apart from that and the additional six tracks, there is only a little to write about. It’s good to see artists fighting against the labels who think they own them.

Song recommendations: ‘We Were Happy’, ‘You All Over Me’, ‘Don’t You’

7/10