If you’ve spent the past month in a Taylor Swift-induced state of wistful ennui following the release of her surprise album “Folklore” and crave more of the same, look no further than Lizzy McAlpine. The singer/songwriter has released her debut album “Give Me a Minute,” and its imagery and intimacy are everything fans of the indie folk style need.

Background

After her eight-song project “Indigo,” released in 2018, “Give Me a Minute” is McAlpine’s first full-length endeavor, and, like all of her music, is independently released. In an interview with That Music Magazine, McAlpine said that she wrote the album while studying abroad in Spain for her degree in songwriting from Berklee College of Music. After debuting several songs from the album as singles, she gained over 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and had numerous songs added to their notable playlists, such as Lorem and Fresh Folk. 

As an independent artist still working on her degree, McAlpine’s social media presence has been one of her greatest assets. One of her TikTok videos, where she plays an unreleased song called “You Ruined The 1975,” has over 7 million views on the platform and has garnered thousands of duets from fans who add harmonies and counter melodies to her lovesick refrain. “Give Me a Minute” has long been awaited after her demos on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

“Give Me a Minute”

I fell into the hype for this album after first hearing the single “Pancakes For Dinner,” a sickly sweet imagining of life with a loved one. The Spotify algorithm tossed it to me as I sat in an airport terminal waiting for my plane and it captured everything I felt while traveling home. It is one of McAlpine’s most popular songs and it’s clear why. On the whole, McAlpine’s music is richly melancholic. Her soulful, sad crooning evokes artist Phoebe Bridgers, who just released her album “Punisher.” McAlpine’s incorporation of soft strings and harmonies relates her to another YouTube and TikTok musician dodie. Even her poetic lyrics poise her as a rising Sara Bareilles in the folk genre. 

Comparisons aside, when you hear one of McAlpine’s songs, you automatically know who it is. With the exception of some of her earlier work, she has discovered a distinct sound and song structure that carry through each track. Take “I Knew” and “Where Do I Go?” from the album, these two vastly different songs each start with an acoustic, almost distant sounding vocal line before bursting into a resounding refrain with all the depth of echoing harmonies. It’s like she sets a trap before each chorus and I fall for it every time. 

Thoughts

As McAlpine’s music video for the titular “Give Me a Minute” premiered on her YouTube channel, it’s sure to only launch her further into the spotlight of the indie folk genre and draw more fans to her music. “Give Me a Minute” is far more than a collection of McAlpine’s individual pieces, but a perso11nal journey of ending one relationship and beginning another. Within the thread of her narrative, you hear the pings of heartbreak and homesickness that characterize her discography. Like “Folklore” and “Punisher” and so many more from musicians continuing to create in our changed reality, “Give Me a Minute” is full of respite and reminiscence in a way my soul needs. 

“Give Me a Minute” and Lizzy McAlpine’s music is available to stream on all platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

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