Once you’ve started listening to Lizzy McAlpine, it’s hard to get her voice out of your head. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter started out by putting her music on SoundCloud during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually going TikTok-viral with her 2022 single “Ceilings.” Now she’s collaborating with everyone from Noah Kahan to John Mayer and Finneas.
This week, Vogue spoke to McAlpine about the release of her folk-influenced fourth studio album, Angels; celebrating her 27th birthday and delving deep into Joni Mitchell’s back catalog; plus beginning to plan a couples costume for Halloween.
Vogue: Congratulations on the album! Any big celebration plans this weekend?
Lizzy McAlpine: Not really. It’s my birthday on Monday, and I’m having my birthday party tonight. I’m having my friends do songs from The Little Mermaid and we’re going to have costumes; we’re doing a whole thing.
This album is so heavily folk-influenced, and you made your Broadway debut in the folk musical Floyd Collins last year. How did your relationship with folk music start?
During the writing of this album, I started listening to a lot of Joni [Mitchell] and Nick Drake and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and all those artists. I think they just found me at a time when I needed them. I don’t know. And then, obviously, doing Floyd Collins on Broadway—that music was so folk-y and kind of in the bluegrass realm, so it definitely influenced my songwriting.
Were you listening to a lot of folk during your TikTok breakthrough, or is that more recent?
I would say it’s more recent. I feel like I go through phases of what I’m listening to and what is inspiring me, and I’d listened to some of that stuff before, but I really dove into the icons of the genre. I definitely don’t bring in references to the studio; I feel like it is better if it just comes from our brains, and obviously other people’s music will influence that. After a long day in the studio, I like to drive home in silence.
What was your first experience of hearing Joni Mitchell’s music?
Well, the first song that I ever heard by her was “People’s Parties” from Court and Spark. My friend just had it on one of her playlists that I was listening to, and I was like, “Wow, this song is awesome!” Then maybe two years ago, my piano player Taylor started playing with Joni, which was crazy. He was listening to a lot of Joni, and just by proxy, I was also listening. Then I was like, okay, I really need to dive in on my own, so I asked him for recommendations. I think I might have started with Blue.
Do you have any plans to tour this album or perform it live?
…Maybe!
What is touring like for you?
Well, I really love having a routine and feeling stable and grounded, and that’s really tough when you’re moving from place to place every day, basically, and living out of a suitcase. I feel like we’ve been able to plan the tours so that it’s easier for me and we’ve gotten a good handle on that, but it’s still tough, just because moving around all the time is hard for me.
What does your day-to-day generally look like at home?
I mean, I don’t leave my house, really. [Laughs.] I spend a lot of time inside my home and I have a lot of hobbies; I play video games, I read a lot. I love spending time alone. I just finished this folk horror novel called The Hill in the Dark Grove. I mostly read horror novels; I need something spooky.
