Alessi Rose

rumination as ritual, the debut EP by Alessi Rose, arrives like a shot of adrenaline straight to pop’s heart. The London-based, East Midlands-born musician makes genre-mash songs that crackle with the torturous thrill of heartbreak, self-discovery and new romance, Alessi’s disparate musical and lyrical ideas fused together by the sheer power of her self-taught songwriting ability. Wise beyond her years but writing with the in-the-moment recklessness of any self-respecting 21-year-old, Alessi is a sly, acerbic new voice in pop, a self-made star with plenty of talent to burn.

You can understand why the fans, as well as outlets like NME and Popjustice, have cottoned on so strongly to Alessi’s style. Songs like “situationship,” are fan-favourite tracks that Alessi initially posted on TikTok and finished at the behest of her superfans; “Lucy” digs into female friendships, and the surreal feeling of hating someone that everyone else likes. “I feel like people don’t want to admit stuff like that,” she says. “break me” captures the messy, youthful thrill of self-sabotage, “and knowing that something’s not going the right way but letting it happen anyway,” she says.

These songs capture Alessi Rose as she is right now – messy and flawed, but self-possessed and in-tune with her emotions all the same. rumination as ritual captures her brilliant songwriting ability in its nascent stage, raw and oh-so-real and addictively listenable. As for Alessi, she’s already onto the next thing. “My next body of work, I just want it to be bigger,” she says. “I want
to be outrageously myself”