Older (and Wiser) By Lizzie McAlpine
A Grammy-Worthy Album
Lizzie live at the Fillmore in Baltimore 2022
I’ve been a Lizzie McAlpine stan since the lockdown days of 2020. I first discovered her on TikTok and immediately devoured every piece of content she had out. I even saw her live in 2022 when she opened for Dodie Clark on the Build a Problem tour. I’ll never forget being in the audience when she performed Ceilings for the very first time. All this to say—I feel highly qualified to write this review.
For every month of this year (five and counting), this album has been my most listened-to. If there are a million streams, I’m easily 999,999 of them. It slaps.
The original Older album dropped on April 4, 2024, and the deluxe edition, Older (and Wiser), followed on October 4, 2024. I’ve been a devoted fan of both versions ever since.
The structure of the album is a masterclass in sonic engineering—everyone involved deserves a Grammy. The transition from The Elevator to Come Down Soon is so seamless, I refuse to listen on shuffle; I need that moment.
The album is unified by themes of growing up and growing older. Lizzie’s songwriting is a lesson in how to build a cohesive narrative across an album. And that’s exactly what this is: a narrative. How does a young girl change and evolve?
She explores that beautifully in the title track, Older. It captures the ache of watching your mother age, the numbness of feeling stuck in time, and the guilt of not being your best self for someone you love. I, too, remember a time “when no one was dying, and no one was hurt, and I had been good to you instead of making things worse.”
McAlpine weaves a powerful tale of love, loss, aging, and—ultimately—healing. I predict it will be my album of the year, and Lizzie will, once again, reign as my top artist.
Favorite Songs:
5. Vortex
This song is powerful. I often loop it while I write—there’s something meditative about it. It’s a stunning piece on what it means to let go. How do we keep ourselves from falling into the proverbial vortex of pain and abandonment? How do we become gentler with ourselves as we age?
4. Better Than This
I’ve cried to this song more times than I can count. It’s like Lizzie reached into my soul and pulled out secrets I’ve only ever whispered to my bedroom walls. The fear that I’ll never experience a beautiful love is real—but still, I have to believe that someone out there will love me better than he did. Somewhere out there, there’s better than this.
3. Staying
I heard Staying live at her D.C. show, and I broke down in tears. The line about being “loved dry” hit painfully close to home. I’m infamous for staying in places too long and losing myself. I’m like the frog being boiled alive—except I know the water is cooking me, but the warmth is so comforting, and the outside world feels too cold.
2. All Falls Down
One of the rare upbeat songs on the album! It’s a toe-tapping bop about change and self-discovery. Pure fun.
Lizzie live at the Wharf in D.C. 2024
1. Spring Into Summer
This. Song of the year. I’ve been screaming it in the car for months. It perfectly ties up the album’s journey of growth and transformation, as spring melts into summer. It also features one of my all-time favorite Lizzie lyrics:
“If I could jump into the past I would only change one thing. I’d never hurt you first. I’d never let you leave.”
Older (and Wiser) is so much more than an album. It’s a story of love and loss. Failure and redemption. It’s what it means to be in your early 20’s. Always and forever running back to something you can’t get.
