On April 5th, Lizzy McAlpine finally made her musical comeback with her third studio album Older. The name of the album is also the name of the first single, “Older” which was released over three months ago on February 13, 2024, along with the track “I Guess” following a month later on March 13, 2024. 

I’ve been a Lizzy McApline fan since 2022 after her viral song, “Ceilings” became popular on TikTok. For me, McAlpine’s music is lyrically beautiful and perfect for a rainy day. When the track “Older” was released, I listened to it on repeat. I immediately noticed the main difference between the new track and her previous album (Five Seconds Flat). A lot of the tracks on her sophomore album have heart-stopping bridges, while “Older” is almost like a melancholic lullaby both musically and lyrically. To me, it seems McAlpine is talking about how time is passing too fast to comprehend and all she wants is for things to be how they used to be. 

There are 14 tracks on the album entitled….

1. The Elevator
2. Come Down Soon
3. Like It Tends To
4. Movie Star
5. All Falls Down
6. Staying
7. I uess
8. Drunk Running
9. Broken Glass
10. You Forced Me To
11. Older
12. Better Than This
13. March
14. Vortex

    

“The Elevator” is a perfect start to the album. It starts out slow, but quickly builds momentum until the beat drop. The track is only a minute and forty three seconds which for me is almost mimicking the movement of an elevator. It’s actually one of the only songs on this album that is hopeful and describes the feeling of falling in love. To me it seems like Lizzy hopes she can stay in this love forever, but if the relationship is anything like the toxic situations she describes in the rest of the tracks on the album, maybe staying with the one she loves isn’t for the best.

“Staying” is a more melancholic song that almost is like describing the feeling of being “just okay” but still not quite ok. McAlpine refers to how she is waiting for either something great to happen or for something terrible to happen; she is in this in-between where feeling “good” doesn’t mean she feels “great.”

“I Guess” came out before the album as a single, and I wish I had given more credit to this song because it hinted at the major themes of the album. While this song is a little slower, listening to the lyrics shows how insecure McAlpine is about being in a healthy relationship when all she knows is chaos and things not going her way. This track is the only one on this album, except for “the Elevator”, that sings about being in love in a positive context. It feels like the giddy beginning of a relationship, where she is guessing about the different things that got her to this moment. This song doesn’t have a powerful lyrical bridge, but instead, an instrumental bridge that brings the feeling of hope back into the feeling of comfort.

In the final song, “Vortex,” McAlpine talks about the feeling of chaos, but knowing one day things will slow down. She is still holding on to the affects past relationship that was unhealthy but she also knows that she needs to let go and move on. A lyric that truly sticks with me is “Someday I’ll be kinder to myself.” I know how it feels to be so hard on yourself than one day you realize there is no one is trying to hurt you but you. Being able to heal from that hurt is difficult, especially when there are people in your life who are nothing but kind to you and yet you feel you don’t deserve it.

This album overall reminds me of someone learning to heal and try to come to terms with healthy love despite feeling broken from past relationships. Whether those past relationships are with others or the relationship that matters the most, the relationship with yourself. With the release of this beautiful yet raw album, I can tell McAlpine is truly starting to find herself. This album came out at such a perfect time in my life, and I can relate to every track. McAlpine never seems to miss in her music, and I’m so glad I have more songs to stare at my ceiling too. With the changing seasons, listening to someone who perfectly encapsulates the fear of change is fitting. If you need music to dissociate to or lock in to, I suggest you listen to Lizzy McAlpine.