Alessi Rose’s ‘Voyeur’ is a Mirror and We’re All Looking In It - EP Review

Picture Credit: Brandon Ross

Alessi Rose just opened the door to her inner world and let us watch. With ‘Voyeur’, her third EP released on July 25, the Derby-born artist invites listeners into her most exposed, intricate project yet. Raw, witty, and emotionally disarming, the eight-track EP captures the moment when bedroom poetry meets full-throttle pop stardom, without ever letting go of the chaos that got her here.

From opening for Dua Lipa at Wembley Stadium to playing her first Glastonbury this summer, Rose has spent the past 18 months on a stratospheric rise. But rather than chasing polished perfection, ‘Voyeur’ dives headfirst into something much more interesting: emotional reckoning. 

Alessi Rose has always written from a place of unflinching truth. Starting as a teen poet, she transitioned to songwriting in her bedroom at 13, influenced by Lorde, Kate Bush, but also Britney and Madonna, whose boldness gave her permission to blur high art with pop sheen. 

“I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the label,” she told DIY, “Pop doesn’t mean soulless.” If anything, ‘Voyeur’ proves the opposite: vulnerability might be its sharpest edge. 

‘Same Mouth,’ the standout single, is a slow-burning anthem of heartbreak and blurred identity, hinting at the darker, more unfiltered direction Rose is embracing. “What does it mean to watch yourself unravel, or let someone see you at your worst?” she questions. 

The result is an EP that feels both cinematic and painfully intimate —  a record for anyone who has ever felt like an observer in their own life.

That duality is everywhere across the EP. There’s voyeurism as exposure, but also as introspection: watching yourself unravel, narrating the spectacle with brutal honesty and a cheeky smirk. “There’s also the side of me being a voyeur of myself,” she adds, “watching my self-sabotaging habits & accepting them with humour & awareness.”

On ‘Dumb Girl,’ we find her declaring, “Your tongue fits in my mouth, like it’s by design,” with both pain and punch. Meanwhile, fan-favourite ‘Stella’ mourns a friendship breakup through a haze of ‘90s guitars and whispered regrets. These are painfully self-aware poetic snapshots, stitched together with Rose’s signature lyrical wit. 

The EP was mostly written earlier this year, in what she describes as a period of feeling “overwhelmingly loved, but also scrutinised/understood/misunderstood.” The result is an emotional tightrope walk and about how, “sometimes it’s good to revel in all the gritty sadism that comes with the winning and the losing out,” she explained on a recent Instagram post.

‘Take It or Leave It,’ a snappy, smart and defiant track, shows just how far she’s come from the self-produced SoundCloud demos that first gained attention in 2023. That same year, the viral success of ‘say ur mine’ marked the start of a whirlwind: two acclaimed EPs, sold-out European shows, a major label deal, and now, a tour with Tate McRae across North America to look forward to. 

Her evolution from self-produced beginnings (remember when she blocked her entire school year from her music Instagram?) to building her empire of dedicated fans all around the world is nothing short of meteoric. Still, the heart of it all remains deeply personal. “Validation is out, voyeurism is in,” she declares. And in her world, being seen, truly, painfully, playfully seen, is the ultimate artistic act.

To celebrate, the ‘Voyeur’ era comes with all the trimmings: her first-ever vinyl release (“If u magically transformed me into a disc, the Voyeur vinyl is what u would get”), exclusive merch, and yes, exclusive ‘Voyeur’ thongs.

This autumn, she brings ‘The Voyeur Tour’ across Europe, including two highly anticipated nights at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum on November 24 and 25, before heading to North America with McRae. But, no matter the stage size, one thing’s clear: Alessi Rose isn’t just occupying space in pop, she is redefining it on her own gloriously raw and heartbreak-splattered terms.

In the end, ‘Voyeur’ isn’t at all about being perfect, but about being perceived, and truly choosing how. With her voice cracking open the veil between performance and personhood, Alessi Rose isn’t just pop’s next big thing; she’s one of its boldest truth-tellers.

‘Voyeur’ is out now on all streaming platforms and Alessi Rose can be found on Instagram.

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WORDS LYDIA SEDDA