Singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine released her third studio album, Old, at just 24 years old. The album includes a melancholic collection of 14 songs that capture what it feels like to grow up in a world full of love and hate, especially towards yourself.
The album was released on April 5th, just two months after it was first announced, and marks her first release since signing with RCA Records.
Throughout the album, the indie pop-folk singer reflects on love and questions the universe, drawing on nostalgic musical influences with sounds and themes similar to Chicago, Phoebe Bridgers, Karen Carpenter, and Kacey Musgraves. Most of all, McAlpine introduced a vulnerable and tender honesty to her songs, conveying a new side of herself not yet shown on her other two albums.
Released as singles before the album's debut, “I Guess” and the title track “Older” gave fans an insight into how vulnerable and emotionally provocative McAlpine's new collection would be. In the images accompanying the single and album covers, McAlpine is bare-faced and dressed in white, perhaps alluding to the pure honesty she exercises, or contrasting the flaws she deals with.
The album, as the title suggests, tackles many of the emotions that come with the idea of growing older, but it also ventures into some interesting instrumental territory that McAlpine hasn't yet shared with audiences. . Piano, wind instruments, string instruments, drums, and numerous guitars, including steel string and slide guitars, are all featured throughout, creating an old-fashioned, mature feel.
Rather than focusing on big, catchy choruses like her 2022 album 5 Seconds Flat, McAlpine instead lets her lyrics and melodies shine with delicate power on Old. . The song “Broken Glass” is a prime example of building to a point of satisfying grandeur without risking the vulnerability highlighted in her lyrics.
On the song “We starting with the end,” McAlpine strums her guitar and fans' heartstrings throughout the song, evoking the familiar defeat that comes with some relationships before they even begin. Therefore, it means “the glass broke again.”
Some of the songs are as barebones as possible before going a cappella, with “Like It Tends To Do” being played by just McAlpine and her guitar until the final moments, when strings and piano join in. , she reflects on “what ifs.'' ” Connection has been lost.
“Better Than This” follows suit, using primarily guitar to sing confessional thoughts that play on the concept of honesty and its impact on her life, before the piano comes in at the end to guide the listener. Bring it out quickly.
But the song on the album that best captures the beauty of haunting simplicity is “You Forced Me To,” with its bouncy vocal line followed by a fingerpicked guitar melody and carnival-esque feel. Minor harmonies are stacked in parallel. A piano line that captivates listeners. The lyrics prompt the listener to reflect on a time when they realized they were wrong as a direct result of pleasing people.
“I changed because you made me,” McAlpine sings.
McAlpine's light tone but full vibrato lends itself to the bittersweet lullaby feel that accompanies most of her songs, stacked with lots of harmonies that feel like a warm blanket.
The exception to the soft folky blues is “All Falls Down,” a more upbeat song with a catchy hook and quirky wind instruments. However, despite its upbeat tone, it contains lyrics that allude to her sadness and the pressures of the world around her.
Another exception is the romantically sweet “Come Down Soon,” layered with fantastical instrumentation in the best possible way.
McAlpine shares sadness, love, regret, happiness, anxiety, numbness, and doubt on “Older.” By juggling these emotions, McAlpine has created a moving and sentimental work of art about what it means to be human.
