- Track 1: The Elevator
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This opening track is short at one minute and forty-three seconds, but McAlpine makes you immediately feel the emotions with the acoustic piano and stacked harmonies. My favorite lyric from this track is “I didn’t know the half of it, and suddenly I had everything to lose.” I love the part where the rest of the instruments come in all at once and how it leads into an outro that really sets the tone for the album. 3/5 stars
- Track 2: Come Down Soon
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This next track is three minutes and forty-seven seconds long and is accompanied by acoustic guitar at a calm tempo. I find that what’s really impressive is McAlpine’s ability to write the most trivial moments into her songwriting and make them more meaningful to her audience. For example, the lyric that demonstrates this talent is “he says ‘you come here often?’ and I have to laugh ’cause it’s so cliche.” I like the melody but this song to me is a little baseline, definitely meant to show off the writing instead of the vocals, which is okay. Lastly, I do like McAlpine’s use of sharp and flat notes, making it sound folky. 3/5 stars
- Track 3: Like It Tends To Do
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This song is three minutes and twenty-eight seconds and begins with some isolated piano notes. McAlpine has a different style of singing on this track; it’s like she’s talking directly to the listener, which I always love in songs. I really like the lyric “People enter one by one [the room] and I’ve stopped hoping they were you.” She pulls out some more vocal skill in the middle and end, rising into her falsetto and incorporating some riffs. I know we’re only on track 3, but I would love a change of pace here to a faster song. 2/5 stars
- Track 4: Movie Star
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This track is shorter like the opening song, at only one minute and thirty-four seconds. This song is accompanied by another acoustic guitar and the tempo is still slow. The melody is more complex and the words are clearer, sounding like a younger person asking for validation. My favorite lyric is “who am I to myself, what are you changing about me?” Perhaps this an allusion to the industry McAlpine now finds herself in, and that honesty makes me like the song even more. 4/5 stars
- Track 5: All Falls Down
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This track already thrills me at the beginning because it gives us a change of pace and tempo, using a variety of instruments instead of just one. The background sounds almost bluesy sometimes, and this effect is emphasized by McAlpine’s note and chord choices. I love the melody for this one though, it’s very catchy and has a nice hook placement – this one could get stuck in my head. I am obsessed with the lyric “Doing fine, like I always am. Am I that good of a liar, that I believe myself again?” because it is the most relatable comment I’ve ever heard. This song has been my favorite so far. 5/5 stars
- Track 6: Staying
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This track, sitting at around two minutes and forty seconds, immediately starts the lyrics with no prelude, accompanied by acoustic piano. We’re back to the slower tempo again, which to be honest, is becoming a little monotonous six tracks in with only one slightly upbeat song. However, the chorus picks up a little and makes the melody somewhat easier to stick with. The songwriting never fails though, even when the music itself can be a little sleepy. 3/5 stars
- Track 7: I Guess
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I had listened to this one before going through the entire album, so I do have a notion as to what it’s going to sound like. This track, one of the singles she released prior to the album, is about three minutes and forty seconds long and is accompanied by acoustic guitar. The melody immediately catches my attention because it’s catchy and easy to sing along to. I believe this song has the best lyrics so far on the album, one of the examples being “you aren’t the first person or the last to feel this way”, which is so comforting to anyone listening to this song or going through a hard time in their lives. Lastly, this track ends with a big, beautiful outro of multiple harmonies coming together. I love this one – I’m definitely giving it a high rating, well-deserved. 5/5 stars
- Track 8: Drunk, Running
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This track is a bit longer at around four minutes and starts with just a couple soft piano chords in the background. We’re still at a slow tempo but the writing is fantastic, like the lyric stating “Make a person out of memories, they won’t live up to it.” That just blew my mind, because people are truly as never good as you remember them in your mind, and McAlpine treads the waters of emotion with such a mature songwriting style. The chorus picks up and just keeps hitting the audience with incredible lines that you haven’t thought about the meaning of before. I’m also giving this one a high rating, just because it seems to reflect both mine and many other people’s inner thoughts on an expert level. 5/5 stars
- Track 9: Broken Glass
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This track begins with a haunting scene of broken glass and threatening imagery, with minimal instruments. The pre-chorus especially digs in deeper with a key change, reflecting the hurt that the two people in the song are causing each other, even though they know it’s wrong. It’s a tragic story, because they can’t erase the hurt that’s emerged from the original altercation. McAlpine says in one of the last lines “I just don’t want to be alone”, which I feel is a sentiment many people relate to on any level. The true value in this track is how descriptive the writing is – you almost feel transported into the song, which is very powerful. 4/5 stars
- Track 10: You Forced Me To
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This track is around three minutes long and has an eerie, jilting melody that’s so interesting. Something about the minor key and the piano tune makes it sound like a circus or funhouse, but in a creepy way. The echo in the chorus is brilliantly placed and adds to that overwhelmed, crazy feeling, that encapsulates the idea of changing because of force. I believe it’s a callback either to a relationship or the music industry, because of the way the perspective changes. My favorite lyric from this one is “I want you to hate me, I deserve it for my crimes. I know that I loved you but you loved me harder every time.” This is something new I haven’t heard from McAlpine before, and I don’t dislike this direction she’s taken. 4/5 stars.
- Track 11: Older
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This is the best song on the album. Hands down, no argument. At three minutes and twenty-two seconds, it is accompanied by a somber piano and a beautiful, reflective, and nostalgic melody. Lastly, the lyrics – the real treasure of this song. They perfectly describe what it’s like to grow up and completely leave your childhood behind; not just old places but people. The lyric that literally made me stop the video for a minute was “Mom’s getting older, I’m wanting it back”, because it just hit me so hard how everyone grows older and never stops. We don’t notice it until it’s too late, wishing we could go back and truly appreciate the little moments. This is a truth that this song does a magnificent job at conveying, and it did admittedly make me tear up a little, so be prepared! 5/5 stars
- Track 12: Better Than This
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This song is a little more upbeat than the last, thankfully, at around three and a half minutes. It’s only accompanied by acoustic guitar, really letting McAlpine’s vocals shine. I love the message of the track, because it discusses what it’s like to have low self-esteem and resort to people-pleasing behaviors to make yourself feel better. A lyric that demonstrates this is “What if I’m not a good person? You always say I am.” and “I like to be seen and I like to be wanted.” I feel like this is a subject that resonates with a lot of people, including myself, and it makes the listener feel seen and validated. 5/5 stars
- Track 13: March
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This track is a little shorter at two minutes and forty seconds and possesses a melancholy tone. This can be explained by the knowledge of her fanbase, because fans are aware of Lizzy McAlpine saying that for every album she writes, the 13th song will always be dedicated to her late father, who passed away in march 2020. Truthfully, this song had me bawling even when I haven’t lost a parent. The lyric “I see him more now that’s he’s gone/maybe I just see him in everything” got me, because it’s just an awful experience no one should have to go through. 5/5 stars
- Track 14: Vortex
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This song is the longest on the album at five minutes and forty-five seconds, and the writing in it is actually insanely good. The vocals are definitely the best in this track as well. McAlpine discusses a dysfunctional relationship between two people, but the stanza that actually made me speechless was “And you’re screaming at me, and I’m watching it fall, and I’m slamming the door, and you make yourself tall. But it’s always an act and it never lasts long. Cause I always come back when I need a new song.” The level of writing just absolutely stunned me, because it’s so heart-wrenching yet beautiful. As a closing track, there is not much resolution to the sadness carried throughout the album, but that’s okay, because it still might be ongoing. I mean, in my opinion, our most impactful experiences never leave us, good or bad. 5/5 stars
As a conclusion, this album was simply fantastic. And what I love about Lizzy McAlpine’s music, and why she’s one of my favorite artists, is that her songs aren’t a superficial radio hit – they’re intended to be an inspiring confession. And she has surely achieved this feat; all throughout the comments of her videos are people relating and healing from their experiences through her words and expression. Her raw and honest songwriting pens down the emotional manifestations of so many people in the world, and there is meaning behind the way she moves people. So without further waiting, go have a listen. “Older” by Lizzy McAlpine will change your life.