Ruler of lovely heartbreak rhythms and scream-along songs, alternative indie-pop singer-songwriter, Lizzy McAlpine, has delivered a surprise that fans have been anticipating. She also announced the release of her junior album for Apr. 5 named after her song, “Older,” which she dropped on Feb. 13.
Building her fame on TikTok and Instagram, she is so much more than just a TikTok star. Her first album, “Indigo,” was released on Feb. 9, 2018, but was later deleted across all platforms except for SoundCloud because she believed her earlier projects weren’t representative of who she was as an artist. While studying abroad in Spain during her time at Berklee College of Music, she wrote and released another album, “Give Me A Minute,” on Aug. 13, 2020. And two years after that, on Apr. 8, 2022, she released her sophomore album and film, “five seconds flat,” which consists of her current — and some of her most popular — songs, like “ceilings” and “all my ghosts.” With “five seconds flat,” McAlpine’s narrative single-handedly redefined what a breakup album truly was.
It seems with each album, McAlpine rediscovers herself emotionally through her music, whether that be happiness like picnic-daydreaming, emptiness like dreary clouds or loneliness like fog and forest trees. She recalls on her Instagram post that “this album took [her] three years to get right.” According to The Washington Post, this is “a project she hopes will be a more raw reflection. Mistakes in the recording studio may end up on the final cut,” and in an interview with Rolling Stone, she stated that this album was what she “actually sounds like as an artist” in comparison to her other albums or projects.
On Jan. 23, McAlpine deleted all of her Instagram posts and changed her profile picture to a solid forest green color on all social media platforms, implying that a new era of music and face to who “Lizzy McAlpine” was to be was beginning. “I learned who I was as a person, who I want to be as an artist and what kind of art I want to make. This album is a culmination of that growth, showcasing the rawest and most honest version of me,” McAlpine said about the changes.
Now, after two years, fans have been gifted with a teaser for her soon-to-be released album: A song called “Older.”
“Older” opens with a solemn chord progression played on the piano, signifying the desolation she must have felt in writing this album. McAlpine takes a deep breath and sings heavenly, but the meaning behind her words isn’t as serene.
“Over and over, a carousel ride / Pay for your ticket, watch the red moon climb / Sick to my stomach, can’t find the ground / Stuck in a loop, watch the curtain come down.”
The sadness that eludes from the slowly played piano in conjunction with the symbolic nature of a carousel reveals her perspective on life: A monotonous loop, a cycle and predictable fate of being born then unborn. “Sick to my stomach,” she sings, “can’t find the ground,” represent the reality that some things are simply out of reach: perhaps alluding to fate and death. “Stuck in a loop, watch the curtain come down,” is described like a theater. With no one to help her get down from the carousel — without a support system — the curtains close, the show ends and she is stuck there, alone, as people in the audience leave her stranded..
“Over and over, watch it all pass / Mom’s getting older, I’m wanting it back / Where no one is dying, and no one is hurt / And I have been good to you instead of making it worse.”
It’s truly unfortunate to watch life gradually start to meet the greatest enemy: time. Here, McAlpine reminisces about the past and her childhood, singing of the many sunny days where she was taken care of and everything in her life was utopic. And don’t many think that way too? Time flies too fast.
“Wish I was stronger somehow / Wish it was easy / Somewhere I lost all my senses / I wish I knew what the end is.”
She emphasizes the debilitating, inescapable feeling of not being able to do anything to help someone else or her own self. These last lines are a plea for help, sign or anything. But, the song ends just as softly and solemnly as it started.
After having named her newest album after this song, listeners must be inclined to believe that her album will be just as brutally honest and wistful as “Older.” But, fans won’t know until Apr. 5, 2024. Stay tuned.
Rating: 4/5