Alessi Rose talks supporting Dua Lipa, breaking into the industry, and rejecting expectations on new EP 'Voyeur' • Neu • DIY Magazine

There are few artists who have risen to stardom like Alessi Rose. In less than 18 months, the Derby-born artist has sold out two headline tours, released her debut and sophomore EPs to millions of streams, and recently inked a deal with Polydor/Capitol Records for her third project, ‘Voyeur’. Currently wrapping up her final shows supporting Dua Lipa on her ‘Radical Optimism’ tour, Alessi joins DIY’s call from a hotel room in Dublin, having recently got off a delayed flight over from Liverpool. “This year actually couldn’t get crazier,” she acknowledges.

Make no mistake, it’s been a whirlwind few months for the star-in-the-making, and Alessi’s still taking it all in. “I try not to think about it too much because it makes me feel dizzy,” she admits. In fact, it was a Facebook memory of her dad’s that prompted a recent revelation: “A picture came up from when I was about 14, and my primary school put on a festival and invited me back to sing,” she recalls. “I picked ‘Scared to Be Lonely’ by Dua Lipa - that was eight years ago to the day, and now I’m opening for her at Wembley…”

The shift from small hometown shows to playing to tens of thousands of people each night has understandably come with its own share of realisations, too. “I’m a big venue girl; I feel so at home in an arena,” Alessi beams. It’s a feat that her younger self wouldn’t have seen coming - as a child, she dealt with stage fright and found comfort in writing poetry in her bedroom. But, as she tells us today, it was those poems that built the foundation for her first demos: “I’d come home from school and just play around with the words on the piano that my parents rented.” With early influences including her self-confessed obsession with Lorde, her mum’s love for the dark romanticism of Lana Del Rey, and her dad’s country influences, lyrics always remained at the forefront of Alessi’s songwriting.

But with no ties to the industry, the reality of making music into a career still seemed out of reach until her late teens. “I genuinely thought there was no way in,” she nods. Eventually, a combination of messaging producers, uploading unmixed tracks to BBC Introducing, and sharing her songs on social media secured her a crucial in-road. “I started an Instagram for my music and blocked my entire school year,” she laughs. The secret wasn’t kept for long, though; her 2023 self-produced debut track ‘say ur mine’ racked up thousands of streams in its first week, and her first EP ‘rumination as ritual’ followed shortly afterwards.

“I’d rather teach young girls that they don’t have to be palatable and suit everything that people want them to be.”

Now, a mere six months on from unveiling her second project, the pop powerhouse is embracing a new chapter with her latest EP. “‘Voyeur’ is me dealing with [my] transition into being an artist and someone that people look to,” the 22-year-old explains. A body of work that sees her navigate the trials and tribulations of young adulthood while adjusting to being in the public eye, the eight-track project has already sparked discourse online. “I’ve always had a relatively young audience and I think that makes people think that I have to be palatable,” she notes, referencing the degree of controversy surrounding its title. “But I’d rather teach young girls that they don’t have to be palatable and suit everything that people want them to be.”

Deconstructing her relationships and experiences with unguarded candour, the EP lays out Alessi’s uncompromisingly bold vision. “The voyeurism is two-fold; the people who listen to my music become a voyeur in that they know all of these deeply personal things about me, but also I’m a voyeur of myself and my own decisions,” she explains. Between ‘Dumb Girl’’s visceral declaration of “Your tongue fits in my mouth / Like it’s by design”, to the aching frustration of unrequited love on angsty guitar anthem ‘Same Mouth’, or the emotional fallout of a friendship breakup on the ‘90s indie rock-infused ‘Stella’, ‘Voyeur’ finds the singer revelling in her artistic freedom.

Written over the past six months between her hometown and sessions in London and LA, the EP further marks a shift in Alessi’s creative process. “I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the label of pop,” she explains. After initially grappling with whether her lyric-focused writing style could fit within the genre, it was ultimately the time-defying classics of Britney and ‘80s Madonna that reaffirmed her mission. “I don’t think you have to sacrifice anything by calling yourself a pop artist; there’s so much scope”. It’s a statement that comes to light on EP standout ‘Take It or Leave It’, which pairs wittily poetic storytelling with an infectious, hook-driven chorus, issuing a defiant bite-back at a non-committal lover.

Paving the way for a new generation of popstars, Alessi’s confessional anthems continue to resonate on a global scale. With a run of festival dates this summer (including a set at Madrid’s Mad Cool this month) and her third headline tour scheduled for this autumn - alongside a series of dates supporting Tate McRae in North America - hers is a name that’s set to remain on the tip of everyone’s tongue. But, as the crowds proceed to get bigger, it’s the support of her fans (the self-titled ‘delulu girls’) that remain at the centre of it all. “Playing any size venue to people [who are] there for you and [are] passionate about you is the best feeling ever - they’re the reason I do this,” she grins.

Whether it’s making her Glastonbury debut opening the Other Stage or announcing her next single by projecting it onto Wembley Stadium, Alessi Rose has undeniably found her forte in transforming her innermost thoughts into huge pop moments. And, if the last 18 months are anything to go by, it looks like she’s well on her way to headlining arenas herself.

Alessi Rose will play Mad Cool Festival, which takes place from 10th-13th July 2025 in Villaverde, Madrid. Find out more and get tickets at madcoolfestival.es.

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