Alessi Rose is pop perfection on landmark ‘rumination as ritual’ EP.
Pop music is changing. Chappel Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are ushering in a new era of heartfelt fun and the world has an insatiable appetite for it. In steps Alessi Rose, the next big thing.
With such a cult following already, I felt somewhat late to the party when discovering the rising star on her release of ‘break me’ earlier this year. On that grungy flick, the Derby-born songwriter flirts with self-sabotage with a cheek that was impossible not to be pulled in by.
It was perhaps no surprise to see that Alessi’s fast-growing army of followers had already sold out her headline show at St Pancras Old Church in April. Thankfully, with all praise to the Twickets gods, I managed to cop a couple of resale tickets.
That night proved transcendent for the songwriter. At the altar, she played the patron saint of heartbreak in front of flickering candles and 150-year-old stained glass windows. A genius venue choice, it was impossible not to smirk at the dichotomy between her menacing lyrics and the place of worship as fans jumped in the aisle.
As a result of that night and previous releases, ‘rumination as ritual’ had become one of 2024’s most hotly-anticipated EPs. On the six-track project, Alessi Rose meets the hype.
The EP kicks off with previously released single ‘eat me alive’. An oozing love song, the twisted ballad sees the star beg for the lovesick ruin she’s still dicing with by the time ‘break me’ comes around.
The last of the project’s singles, ‘lucy’, closes the EP. While Alessi Rose is at her giddy best over more ear-catching production, there’s still a real grandeur to her stripped-back ditties. On ‘lucy’, she pens a heartfelt letter to a love rival - à la ‘Jolene’ - with striking vulnerability.
Fans will no doubt spend this week obsessing over the new material on ‘rumination as a ritual’. On ‘the pit’ the pop star is as cool as they come when plotting a break-up long before a love story has even begun. Meanwhile, ‘situation’ is a real highlight as she caves on a stoic promise to keep it casual when falling head over heels in love.
It’s remarkable just how much personality and ambition Alessi Rose has managed to cram into the 17 minutes of her first major release. Everything that there is to love about ‘rumination as ritual’ comes together in its most potent way on ‘CRUSH!’.
I’ve been lucky enough to see that track live twice, at St Pancras Old Church and when the singer opened up for FLETCHER at the Eventim Apollo. Each time, the friend I was with turned to meet my eyes with an approving nod - if a pop song can truly reach perfection, ‘CRUSH!’ is surely it.
Whirring into life over a minimalist bass line, Alessi Rose paints the picture of a love chase - “I guess my indecision is getting you off,” she flirts. By the chorus the singer puts pedal to the metal over an infectious “ooo woah oh oh” and, just as you think it can’t get any better, she lands the superbly quotable line of “masochistic, twist the knife, see how far you get tonight!”.
For the near 40,000 monthly Spotify listeners who will come to ‘rumination as ritual’ on release week, there’s no doubt a feeling of earning bragging rights. The EP is surely the start of a very special journey for Alessi Rose. This is pop prodigy stuff.
10/10
Alessi Rose’s ‘rumination as ritual’ has been added to under the radar’s Elite Picks