P&P Spotlight: Alessi Rose

Alessi Rose knows how to have “FUN” and make you feel everything. The British pop sensation, who burst onto the scene with “say ur mine” about three years ago, just put out one of her most personal singles to date. Here, she dives deep into the mental space that follows unexpected changes in life - which can feel like a painful trap that’s sucking you in and swallowing you alive. She characterizes her encounters with these personal, yet simultaneously universal challenges - telling her story in a relatable, resonant manner. 

Due to her eloquent and picturesque portrayals of heartbreak, Alessi shares much of her fanbase with artists like Gracie Abrams and Olivia Rodrigo. At the same time, her work with more tongue-in-cheek writers such as Audrey Hobert adds a raw, confessional layer to her music, allowing her to effortlessly connect with listeners. The singer-songwriter is known to be very outspoken about her journey of discovering her sense of self, her experiences living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and balancing the waves of life that arise within her day-to-day.

Image credit: Alessi Rose; graphic created by Karly Ramnani

YOU’LL LOVE ALESSI ROSE IF YOU LISTEN TO: Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, Audrey Hobert, Tate McRae, Maisie Peters

A listener might assume that “FUN” carries light, positive themes from its title, but they’d be in for a shock. Alessi’s lens steps outside of that initial interpretation, turning in a more dim, transparent direction. “FUN” embarks on a journey of falling deeply in love with a significant other that eventually trails off. She illustrates the unforgiving gut punch of losing the spark, which once was lit in the brightest of ways, due to outgrowing one’s imperfections. Her lover promised to stay through the peaks and valleys, through the difficulties and flaws, and she guides us through the realization that they didn’t follow through on this. “You loved all of the quirks that made me, me / You were a stable room in a crumbling house,” recalls Alessi on the promising beginnings of this relationship in the first verse. This shifts to “And you said we’re evergreen, some sh*t you didn’t mean / because everything wilted under my storm clouds” in the heartwrenching second verse. 

Overall, “FUN” explores the feeling that there will never be a “right person” that will love you in spite of your darkest moments, which can then leave you questioning your own self worth. In just three minutes and thirty-three seconds, the song maps Alessi’s emotions through this heartbreak, and simultaneously delivers a direct, cold message to its fair-weather subject. 

“FUN” serves as just one example of Alessi’s carefully crafted, poetic lyricism. It joins “skin” and “dependent” as one of her singles following the landmark Voyeur tour and opening stint for Tate McRae last year. She hasn’t announced more shows quite yet, but she’s hinted that these past three singles might appear on a soon-to-come debut album, which means tour could be upon us! Now is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with this rising star - here’s a playlist we’ve curated to capture her vibe.