Singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine released her third studio album, “Older” on Friday, April 5, 2024. After the success of her single “ceilings” from her second album “five seconds flat,” McAlpine gained mainstream popularity for her soft voice and emotionally compelling lyrics. With gentle guitar strums, piano keys and ambient instruments, McAlpine explores vulnerable topics, such as self-discovery, moving on, growing up and the complexities of love.
McAlpine depicts a scenario where she meets her ex again after a long separation in “Like It Tends To Do.” After extensive contemplations about what her ex would say or do to her if they were in the same room again, McAlpine comes to realize he will not care enough to look her way.
“I’vе been standing in the same room / People enter one by one / And I’ve stopped hoping they’ll be you / I’ve been standing in the same room / You don’t visit anymore,” McAlpine sings.
In “Movie Star,” McAlpine feels special for her partner choosing and admiring her like a celebrity. She describes the progression of a relationship getting old and feeling soulless.
“I wanna change, I wanna grow / But it’s physically impossible / To stand hеre and not say that I love you / Even if I don’t,” McAlpine sings.
Despite how much McAlpine wants to leave her relationship, she is “Staying” in the same place, as the song title implies. While she acknowledges the toxic relationship she has fallen into, it becomes even more difficult to get out of. McAlpine examines the initial fear of leaving her partner but eventually realizes it is for the best.
“Maybe I would be okay if I let this go forever / Send it into space and watch the planets turn / Maybe I will someday let this go forever / Hold me until I find the nerve,” McAlpine sings.
In the seventh track, McAlpine begins several lines with “I Guess”, contemplating her desires for love and reflecting on the progression of life and death. As she tells the story of a night with a drunk companion, they become sensual, but she questions the genuineness of their naive connection.
“I guess it’s all about timing / I guess it’s all about the things you want but never get / I guess it’s all about trying / To love someone you’ve never met,” McAlpine sings.
McAlpine explores the challenges of herself and her family getting “Older” in the 11th track. She struggles to grow into adulthood and detach herself from childhood simultaneously. As her mother grows older, McAlpine fears the inevitability of death and leaving the people she loves.
“Thought it’d be over by now / Thought you would leave / Thought I would come to my senses / Wish I was stronger somehow / Wish it was easy / Somewhere I lost all my senses / I wish I knew what the end is,” McAlpine sings.
In “Better Than This,” McAlpine struggles to accept herself and let others understand her. She hopes for a better future but questions her worth and the fear that comes with it.
“What if I’m not a good person? / You always say that I am / But you don’t really know me at all now / I have you right in the palm of my hand / ‘Cause I like to be seen and I like to be wanted,” McAlpine sings.
While McAlpine vaguely references her father’s death throughout the album, no other song explores her familial grief like “March,” a reference to the month he passed. McAlpine struggles to grow older without her father by her side, seeing his reflection in the places she goes and the experiences she lives through.
“Never looked much like my father / One year older but somehow I feel younger / I see him more now that he’s gone / Or maybe I just see him in everything,” McAlpine sings.
McAlpine concludes the album with “Vortex,” acknowledging that she needs to escape a toxic relationship but cannot take the final step. The never-ending cycle of exhaustion and confusion she faces in her relationship leaves her helpless, hoping to gain the strength to let go of her attachment to him.
“And I’m tired of this and the way that it feels / I’m not there anymore, this has never been real / We’re just awful together and awful apart / I don’t know what to do anymore,” McAlpine sings.
In her third studio album, Lizzy McAlpine struggles to grow “Older,” exploring the emotional turmoil of age on her parents and her toxic relationships that grow older each day. McAlpine describes the complexities of moving on from difficult situations and accepting herself in the process.