Last week Lizzy McAlpine released a fourteen track album entitled Angel. This is my ranking of the songs, from least favorite to favorite!
14. “PeACH”
“Somewhere in Kentucky / You play a song for someone else”
Although this song tells a beautifully tragic story, I just don’t find it as catchy as some of the other songs. The last big note at the end is beautiful though.
13. “I have a friend”
“There is a magic in all of the secrets we keep”
This song has beautiful lyrics, and it is so refreshing to hear love songs from Lizzy. In the same vein as “Peach,” I just don’t find the song particularly catchy, although it is still very beautiful.
12. “The moon”
“I am in your debt, I am no freer than the moon”
A toxic love song, this one is multi-dimensional. It has beautiful backing vocals and lyrics that can be interpreted as either romantic or toxic. It is definitely catchier than the previous two, and I feel myself tapping along to it as it plays.
11. “Mason’s song”
“Sit around and talk about the people we were / A year ago, when we were trying to make it all work”
This is a beautiful song about changing, both for the better and for the worse, and, with this change, growing apart from someone, yet still needing them. It is nostalgic and a little melancholy, which is a mood and tone Lizzy is an expert at setting.
10. “Our strange ways”
“Looking glass to the sun / Burst into flames / You set me on fire / I remember everything”
Aptly named, this is a strange song that is set in two parts: the song ends and then starts again, sounding like a completely different song. No matter your interpretation of what these different parts mean, this is a beautiful song about love and how we need certain people in our lives and we are afraid of life without them. It is tragic and stressful to think of this world, a feeling that McAlpine captures.
9. “Two elevens”
“I wear the necklace with the two elevens / Like a promise that I won’t forget”
This is a song about remembering what it was like to love someone, even if you may not love them any longer, or vice versa. A wildly relatable song, the image of “the necklace with the two elevens” is visceral and while it may evoke the angel number 1111, it also evokes, for me, 11:11 and the wish-making tradition associated with that time, perhaps marking this as a song about hoping they will be drawn back together.
8. “Angel”
“I have always been here waiting / For this day, my lover”
A beautiful love song about waiting for the day you meet your one true soulmate and lover, “Angel” is catchy if not relatable. The music itself as well as the lyrics are equally cozy and beautiful, evoking a sense of comfort, warmth, and true love.
7. “A car wash and a new pair of pants”
“So you wanted the people to notice you / You wanted my name to be yours”
This song, the halfway mark through my list, also marks the point where I start to truly enjoy all of the songs that remain. This song is incredibly catchy and almost sounds like it belongs in a Broadway show. It has such a nice rhythm and is so nice to just listen or sing along to.
6. “Anybody’s fool”
“I know this is right and I know that it’s sad / Want you to want me again like that”
This is a beautifully tragic song and one I struggled to properly place on this list. It is very sad and vague enough that it can be a little relatable to everyone. The idea that leaving someone is the right choice, as sad as it may be, is always going to be a tragic one, and I think McAlpine encapsulates that here.
5. “The light in the painting”
“If somewhere there is a heaven / This is as close as I will get”
This song was the first single released for Angel and set the mood of the album to be one about pure and devoted love. This is relatable for anyone who has ever been in love, as it really encapsulates the feeling of pure adoration. It is such a beautiful song, and, while it may be this high because I have had more time to digest it compared to the rest of the album, I think this song will continue to hold up as listeners get accustomed to the newer songs as well.
4. “Over country”
“Someone loves me over something that will never change”
Another song that truly encapsulates love and the feeling of being loved, I hope this song can be relatable for everyone. I think long-distance relationships, friendships, and families can especially relate to this song, and, as someone who has experienced one or more of these long-distance relationships, I think this a very pure and beautiful song that encapsulates the beauty of long-distance in all of the difficulties it may bring.
3. “Ugly things”
“All the ugly things will come back around / Wish they made me not love you / Wish they made you love me too”
This is another song that portrays a sadly toxic love and the difficulties of wishing you could not love someone because of what they do to you. This was the second single for Angel, so it is another one that I have had more time to digest, but I think this song is so beautiful and strong. The build up to the beat drop before the last chorus and the instrumentals are comparable to a religious experience to me; the music that McAlpine crafts is incredible.
2. “Soldier of the road”
“Soldier of the road, I am hungry for peace / I am wandering alone, I am aimlessly free”
This is a beautiful, almost eerie folk song that feels very dystopian. It reminds me of The Hunger Games trilogy or Hadestown, and I would believe it if it were revealed that it was written for one of these mediums, or in inspiration of them. Because I love folk, dystopian politics, and both The Hunger Games and Hadestown, this song was nearly perfect for me.
1. “The crowd”
“I wish I told you more that I loved you / There’s so much I would have said / And so much that I wanted to”
Every 13th track of Lizzy’s albums is dedicated to her late father, who passed in 2020. Unfortunately, I relate to this aspect of McAlpine’s life in that I also lost my father that year, so her track thirteens will always hit close to home for me. Perhaps it is recency bias, but this may be her strongest and most devastating Track 13 from her three albums, competing with “chemtrails” from five seconds flat and “March” from Older, and I teared up upon first hearing it. I believe this will remain my favorite song from this album for a while.
wrap up
And that’s the list! This was a beautiful and cohesive album from Lizzy and I can’t wait to possibly hear it live if I get tickets for the tour that she just announced this week. The album is only an hour total, so if you have an extra hour, I think it is definitely worth a listen. She is an amazing and profound songwriter and only produces beautiful lyrics and music that deserve to be heard by all.