April 11, 2024 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Sydney McGarr
Lizzy McAlpine’s third studio album, “Older,” released on April 5, 2024, is her most vulnerable yet. This vulnerability is apparent from the very first track, a one-minute and 40-second song called “The Elevator,” which details a deep emotional connection past its expiration date. “It wasn’t slow/it happened fast,” the song begins in a near whisper. It culminates in McAlpine’s fear for the future of her slowly ending relationship. “I think we can make it/I hope that I’m right,” she sings, louder this time, over a steadily climbing piano melody.
She’s preparing her listeners for a softly sung journey through a deep kind of heartbreak, one that leaves her questioning her own volatility as she realizes she can’t stop time.
Contrary to the experimental pop sounds of her last album, “five seconds flat,” the acoustic nature of the new work makes listeners feel like they’re sitting in the room with McAlpine, reading excerpts of her journal. Guitar, piano and sprawling string instruments compliment McAlpine’s honeyed voice, dragging focus to her heartbreakingly honest lyrics. These subtle changes were extremely intentional, but in the face of the public eye, they don’t come without fear.
“I’m just putting out my entire soul for people to witness, and I feel like before, I dressed it up with different things and production elements and this time it’s just there. It’s scary,” McAlpine tells Variety.
The undercurrent of the album is the failure of a relationship, one McAlpine tries to gracefully navigate while dealing with internal chaos that comes with being a woman in her early twenties. Throughout it all, she finds herself contemplating larger themes, most notably, her own mortality. Her inner turmoil regarding aging is apparent in the buoyant, horn-filled “All Falls Down” (“Twenty-two was a panic attack/I can’t stop time from moving/And I can never get it back”), and the lead single, “Older” (“Over and over/Watch it all pass/Mom’s gettin’ older/I’m wanting it back.”)
McAlpine’s loyal fanbase has been steadily growing since she released her first EP at 18 years old. In 2020, she dropped out of Berklee College of Music and released her debut studio album, “Give Me A Minute.” Since then, she’s developed a huge crowd of followers on TikTok and Instagram. If you’ve opened TikTok in the last few months, you’ve likely heard her hit song, “Ceilings.” She’s sure to clarify, though, that she doesn’t entirely credit TikTok for her success. In an interview with WhyNow, McAlpine says, “It hurts my heart a little bit when people say I started on TikTok. No I didn’t. I’ve been working so hard to get to this point, and TikTok was just one part of it.”
In late February, McAlpine announced the “Older” tour in support of the album. The headlining tour is set to span April 2024 through October 2024. It includes spring and summer shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO and an appearance at Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. In its best moments, “Older” is an album that reflects the complicated mind of a twenty-something woman. It is unwaveringly raw and reflective. It’s indicative of a new era of McAlpine’s life, one where she’s less concerned with writing for audience approval, and more concerned with writing something she’s proud of.
McAlpine uses the album as a medium to tiptoe into a reality she’s struggling to accept: the world keeps turning, even as she deals with grief, heartbreak and learning to trust herself. She’s growing, whether she likes it or not. (“One year older/but somehow I feel younger,” she sings in “March.”) As McAlpine hands this new album to listeners, she’s handing them her insecurities, doubts and fears. She hopes they find meaning and connection in her vulnerability. When asked what she hopes people will take from “Older,” McAlpine tells DIY, “I hope they’re reassured that life is messy for everyone. And not having it figured out is totally fine. It’s all a journey.”