'Voyeur': Alessi Rose on surviving the situationship

From lighting up Wembley Stadium while opening for Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Tour, to gearing up for a coveted slot on Tate McRae’s tour later this year, Alessi Rose has been booked, busy, and undeniably rising. Yet somehow, she has still found time to drop 'Voyeur', a sleek new EP that proves why the world has all eyes on her right now.

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Photo via Teresa Ciocia

Same Mouth

'Same Mouth' absolutely lives up to the hype from the teasers online, and renditions that fans haven’t been able to get enough of during her live sets. It paints this vivid picture of being tangled up with someone messy, who will not fully commit and chooses to keep entertaining other options at the same time. The brutal bridge is the cherry on top, capturing that whirlwind of hurt that comes from being completely consumed by someone you cannot maintain. There is this ache present that runs through the track, born from a kind of intoxicating pain we can actually feel. Yet somehow, she still crafts an insanely catchy pop hit. As if we needed reminding, 'Same Mouth' serves as even more proof that Alessi is set to absolutely excel as a pop artist. The track drops us straight into her world, and sets the tone for the unfiltered journey that 'Voyeur' promises us.

via Instagram: @alessirose

Take It or Leave It

One of the most immediate takeaways from Voyeur is the development of Alessi's ability to narrate a story, and how it has become increasingly immersive to the listener. 'Take It or Leave It' is just one example of this growth, and we meet Alessi in her emotional tug-of-war with someone she cares for. She confesses 'you're stuck in my teeth / it's disgusting, I need it out, It's more than just a crush', a relatable image of the contradictions she faces with her emotions.

Still, the song expresses admiration, albeit through gritted teeth, like 'I've noticed you're perfect' and 'watching you breathe / wish I could do it for you'. This entanglement has her at war with herself and conflicted in this view of someone. The pre-chorus captures this struggle, admitting that 'I try to sleep, but you always intrude' - she describes the idea of someone haunting your solitude so well. Alessi has always portrayed the chaos of the modern dating scene with ease, and this track adds the weight of the mental toll of needing to be around someone, willing to shape shift into anything they want in that moment. It feels like the more vulnerable, emotionally unfiltered sequel to 'Same Mouth', where Alessi no longer pretends to be unaffected by the actions of someone, and how they directly impact her.

'Voyeur' EP cover

Everything Anything

The arc of 'Voyeur' makes it a genuine joy to listen to in its entirety, and as we reach 'Everything Anything', we are firmly at the aftermath of this connection's fallout. This track exposes all the secrets usually saved for the group chat, going through the motions and the realisations that dawn, that the person you invested energy into had different intensions all along. The line 'guess that's how the penny drops / you're mine 'til the day you're not' feels like a pivotal shift in Alessi's perception, it is not necessarily profound, but portrays the feeling perfectly. She has found clarity, actually viewing someone for who they really are. The second verse details the red flags once explained away like justifying, lying, overcompensating, and 'the fact we never actually talked about' what they actually were to one another. It reveals the true unbalance of it all, where things were bent into place but never truly fit correctly. Once you stop feeding into the lies, you see how little they gave you in comparison. This is a bittersweet breakup song, but also a necessary step in Alessi's growth, reclaiming her perspective of the narrative.

Stella

'Stella' is another long awaited release for Alessi's fans, a demo that she has teased over the past year.

'Stella' speaks to a deeper kind of heartbreak than romance, the loss of a friendship with someone you foresaw being beside you through every stage of life. This is truly a song where Alessi has bared the loss, and you can actually feel every fracture she has to overcome. Lyrics like 'she feigns her concern but she laughs when I cry' and 'you thought I wouldn't know that your biggest fear was me stealin' the show' cut deep. It captures the ache of being around someone who felt like home, yet they acted through jealousy over tact and genuine consideration at your expense. While this could have been a statement of reconciliation, Alessi shows her resilience in walking away and truly knowing her own worth. With purpose, she declares that 'I won't raise my white flag / Stella I'm over, Stella I'm out'. With time, they will realise that while you walked out, they forced the door open for you to go.

That Could Be Me

Alessi has a calling to write about unrequited feelings, and we will welcome it anytime. She will never shy away from painting a vivid picture of exactly what she wants, even when she cannot have it and that is seen perfectly in 'That Could Be Me'. The opening statement of 'I missed every shot at you and they ricocheted, now they're lodged in my brain' feels punchy, immediate, this is an admission of just how deep her feelings run. Jealousy seeps into every moment of this track, portrayed with a frankness as she simply states 'but now she's pulling you closer / I'm screaming out, and it kills me over and over / over and over'. This loop of longing is devastating here. As seen in the lyrics of 'Take It or Leave It', Alessi addresses the idea of shape shifting to achieve the desire of the track's subject, to be validated with clear reciprocation. The pre-chorus plays with this, saying 'I can be perfect and pretty, never too much, not too clingy' directly followed by 'but I can't speak when you're near me'. She is self aware, but the anxiety that presents entirely bursts the bubble of her own fantasy. The track is a push and pull of her morals, and yearning to be chosen by the person she has fallen into this state of lust over. This is an addicting track, Alessi nails it every time.

via Instagram: @alessirose

RIP & Bittersweet

Across Alessi's projects, she always strikes the right balance between writing playful, cheeky songs that seem to come so naturally to her, and softer tracks that bares the burden of pure vulnerability. 'RIP' lands within that latter category that we see more as the EP unfolds. It is deeply self-exposing in conceding to her pain, and acknowledging her part to play as it unfolds. She removes the humour that has previously masked any true aching, no tongue-in-cheek jokes to keep the sting of it all covert. Lyrics such as 'you're so devoid of any real love / you just cared to prove to yourself you can feel / and now I'm pathetic' truly submits to the heavy gloom of being strung along, kept only as an option while entertaining someone else. 'Bittersweet' picks up where 'RIP' leaves off, the two tracks compliment each other perfectly, unified in sentiment but told from different points in the journey. 'RIP' sat with the destruction of the connection's downfall, and 'Bittersweet' dissects the play-by-play to find a cause and effect. The line  'autopsied our final words like ten times / when I cut my losses, left you at that roadside / where I said I can't go on' feels like a flashback, enhancing this feeling of dejection where we can actually see it. The two tracks are great companion pieces at this point of 'Voyeur', and comments on this chapter with effortless storytelling.

Dumb Girl

'Dumb Girl' feels like an emotional culmination of everything we have heard leading up to this point on the project, a powerful close that ties every though together. Alessi strips this song back with gentle acoustics and layered harmonies, showing a new level of confidence within her own artistry. She presses pause on overproduction and theatrics, opting for pure reflection and control to tell the ending of her story. 'Dumb Girl' helps Alessi look back at the full picture, each experience and moment of lust and hurt that in turn has shaped 'Voyeur'. Lines like 'you give mean inch I'll give you everythin' / and im going down with the ship / cause you know what you did' are striking in its confrontation, but does not plea for a sense of understanding. She has put in the work to see things clearly herself. With the chorus' inclusion of 'so in love you're acquitted from the crime... just bite my lip then call me your friend' and 'dumb girl there to get you off / make the moment last, cause we burn hard and fast.... fuck that', there are feelings of pent up rage and complicity bundled together. While the end leaves us unsure as to whether the cycle has been broken or if she remains stuck in it, the mirror is still being held up to the entire story, and that make it feel so real.

'Voyeur' is some of Alessi Rose's strongest work. Intimate and unfiltered, it feels like a collection of stories she has truly lived through, inviting us to feel every last emotion right beside her.