George Alice has set the scene alight with the release of her debut EP ‘Growing Pains’, containing triple j unearthed high winning track ‘Circles’. Reminiscent of artists such as Tate McRae and Sylvan Esso, but with her own unique synth-pop brand George Alice has presented herself as a powerful new voice on the rise.
The EP as a whole is a collection of who George Alice has become over the years as a young person in the industry, chronicling how she has changed. “I like to think of the Growing Pains EP as a passport of my teenage years. every place I’ve been, emotion or journey I’ve been through has been stamped in this body of work in just a few songs,” Alice says.
Huge first track ‘Band Aid’ is a pop laced hit that focusses on getting over a dangerous relationship cycle that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere but feels impossible to let go of. It also speaks on self-maturing – deciding that you’re done with something that isn’t good for you but still acknowledging that it was a part of your life. As a staple of her live sets the long-awaited release of ‘Band Aid’ only added to the excitement surrounding this EP’s debut.
‘Stuck in a Bubble’ (featuring NASAYA) follows a similar theme of being in a never-ending cycle with something that isn’t good for you. The lyrics touch on the negative mindset that develops from being in a toxic space, ‘it's a bummer/ and I wanna cry for fun / don't gotta be something wrong/ 'cause my heart is either numb or on fire’. The track makes great use of stripped back beats and synths to creates a dreamy soundscape for us to fall into.
‘Mid Years’ and ‘Hold On’ creates a juxtaposition between George Alice’s style as an artist. While ‘Mid Years’ is a more light-hearted expression of getting through a breakup, using bass and clicky synth to back her vocals, ‘Hold On’ pulls you into a warm embrace with a gentle, almost heartbeat, rhythm to settle yourself into. Alice overlays her own voice in the opening of the track – a crystalline sound that transforms seamlessly when bass is added that hypes up the tension for when the beat finally drops.
George Alice put her middle finger up for this next one, switching up the pop for a more mellow indie beat. ‘Teenager’ is the angst-filled anthem of every 17–19-year-old trying to get a grip of a world that expects kids to know exactly what to do with their life once high school ends. Lyrics ‘put my best behaviour on like a costume that you love/ you tell me who to be, but I'll never learn a thing/ I'll write it down on paper/ I’m just a f**king teenager’ represents the thoughts of anyone too young to be told to grow up. Being so young at the time she started writing music, there would be many people telling her what the right way to go is before she had even found her own style. Alice expressed “growing up is never easy, I’d be lying if I said differently, but it has been incredible getting to capture those moments in these songs.”
Alice uses her EP as a representation of the back and forth between realising that something is bad for you and trying to let it go. She turns back to this theme in track ‘Nervous’, expressing such with lyrics ‘I won't slip away/ get in inside my head/ echo in my brain’.
Speaking on the subject matter of the EP, Alice explained ‘[the album is] a bite-size piece of work that showcases everything I’ve been since I was 15, to hear the songs I’ve been playing at my shows for the last few years and the songs that really made me fall in love with making music.” Alice’s work is a summary of every love and loss she has faced in her young life, with the artistry of putting it all into sense and backing the words with music.
While triple j unearth has recognised George Alice’s talent with track ‘Circles’, enough praise cannot be given to Alice for the thematic and melodic symphony that she has created within this single. With elegant hooks and sparkling pop, it’s a beat that anyone can fall into with the same subject matter as the majority of the EP. ‘Circles’ deserves its place in her EP.
Alice rounds out the EP with ‘Haunted’, the melancholy desire to be loved in a place where love may not really exist. Alice pleads ‘tell me that this love isn't haunted/ tell me that I'm all that you wanted’, only showing how she realises that there is something clearly wrong with the relationship. As in the other tracks, it is letting go that is harder, even once you’ve realised that the relationship isn’t healthy. This final track rounds out the album and her unique ability to make sad sound so good.
“I think it was really important for me to put these songs out now, I waited until the time felt right. I’ve grown so much over these past few years, this EP is definitely a reflection was who I wanted to be when I was younger and I think that’s really special to be putting out for everyone to hear.”
George Alice is a fresh powerhouse gracing the indie scene- with track after track that gets your head bopping and your heart aching, Growing Pains only solidifies herself presence as an impressive young artist that will continue to reach greater heights.
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