Alice Phoebe Lou is a 27-year-old singer-songwriter from South Africa, and she is a breath of fresh air. Starting out as a laid-back folksy performer, she wanted to prove that she could be more than another palatable blonde girl with a guitar. This is evident in the experimental nature of her music, and the way in which it refuses to fit into a single category. Her sound has been described as a melting pot of genres: neo-folk, indie, alternative, sometimes synthpop, with clear influences from jazz and blues. For this reason, Lou is often misunderstood as an artist and some may feel that her music is difficult to get into, but this has not stopped her from having confidence in her own creative choices.
Throughout the music industry recently, we’ve seen several other female artists express a desire to break away from the mould. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Taylor Swift has announced that she will be re-recording her album Fearless (appropriately named) in a bid to regain control of her music and move past the restrictions that were once imposed on her by those in positions of power, explaining, “I think that artists deserve to own their work”. As an independent artist, Alice Phoebe Lou seems to feel just as strongly about this. She writes, records, and produces music herself, recently setting up her own studio with the help of two close friends. In a short documentary about her 2019 album, Paper Castles, Lou says “I enjoy taking things into my own hands and I feel capable of doing that…because of the independence that I’ve been able to attain, I don’t have any obligations to anyone and at the end of the day, whatever you do with your life, the most satisfying feeling is to be your own boss”.
Despite Lou’s music not fitting into the “mainstream”, I believe she has a song for everyone and every situation. As an introduction to her world, Paper Castles is the best place to start. The album explores femininity, nostalgia, and maturing identity, but it is by no means predictable. Spill Magazine wrote that much of Lou’s record veers towards “the jangly guitars and softly textured synthesizers of bedroom pop”, whilst “muted guitar blends with synth textures” creating a “spacious indie” feel at other times. Much like Florence Welch, forest-sprite and witch of the music world, the atmosphere Alice Phoebe Lou creates is both ethereal and powerful.
One of the most striking things about this album, aside from the beautiful and complex musical production, is the boldness of Lou’s lyricism. As someone that centres her music around authenticity and a willingness to expose oneself, she is not afraid to call out those who hide behind façades: “You better cut off your wings cause you’re held up by strings now”. In ‘My Outside’ the unapologetic lyrics, “I stopped caring too much about my outside. Didn’t wanna be told what I’m supposed to look like. Didn’t wanna be told what makes a woman look right” are paired with lively syncopated beats, making the song feel very playful, despite having a hard-hitting message. In this way, Lou reminds us that serious issues can be addressed head-on in music, without falling prey to the narrative of compulsory solemnity and victimhood. Likewise, in the climax of ‘Skin Crawl’, she proudly sings “How about I take your patriarchy, your misogyny… and set fire to it”, asserting her no-nonsense attitude and forcing others to confront established, yet problematic, societal norms.
Paper Castles also shows us the diversity of Lou’s vocal range; her voice possesses an incredible clarity and soars over each track. However, its dream-like and haunting quality is balanced out with grit, as she growls and cries out in other songs, such as ‘Something Holy’. The flexibility and fluidity of her vocals is truly unique, and it glides up and down across octaves like a slide whistle, with seemingly little effort, perhaps most notable in ‘Galaxies’ during the eerie refrain “I’m not going”.
After lockdown number three was announced, I happened to be listening to ‘New Song’, where she sings, “What kind of living is this? I don’t wanna simply exist. I wanna punch with my fists…grab life by her wrists…and say I want this”, and the lyrics hit me in a completely new way, as if I was listening to the song for the first time again. Lou clearly didn’t have a national lockdown in mind as she was writing these lyrics, but it just goes to show the universality of her music – everyone can relate to it in some way or another.
Lou herself said “I realised that instead of making people think, I wanted to simply make people feel”, which is exactly what her music does. These are the kind of songs that make you want to lie on your back in a field all day, forget about monotony, and float into your feelings. Maybe when the weather sorts itself out, you should lie under the sun and listen to some Alice Phoebe Lou. I can confidently say, you won’t regret it.
