South Africa born, Europe-based artist Alice Phoebe Lou has recently released her latest single, ‘The World Above’. The release of the song on 19 July, also Lou’s birthday, marked her first release since her 2023 album Shelter. The news came alongside an announcement that Lou will be supporting Clairo on her upcoming US tour.
Born in South Africa to a creative and encouraging family, Alice Phoebe Lou first developed her enchanting sound performing on the streets of Berlin. Platforms like YouTube are awash with videos of Lou busking around Europe, with her rendition of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ gaining over 9.5 million views. Since then, she has been successfully carving out a name for herself and her own music.
Lou self-released her first body of work, the Momentum EP, in 2014, collaborating with several Berlin-based artists and musicians. The result was an enchanting blend of rock, blues, folk, and pop. After developing a strong fan base through intimate live shows across Europe and South Africa, Lou released her first full length studio album, Orbit, in 2016. Again, her work was deeply collaborative, featuring artists from across Europe and South Africa. Her latest album, Shelter, featured the highly popular and fiercely motivational song ‘Open My Door’, which now has over 13 million streams on Spotify.
Now, Lou is back with yet another enchanting, uplifting piece, which, like ‘Open My Door’, proudly celebrates independence and self-sufficiency.
An intoxicating blend of bedroom pop and dreamy indie, with flowing guitar riffs and rich metaphors, ‘The World Above’ is as empowering as it is enchanting. From existing “underneath the water”, to being “back on land in the moon’s light”, ‘The World Above’ charts the captivating tale of overcoming feelings of being drowned by one’s ‘demons’, to surface on land and come into one’s own as a self-sufficient and self-confident being. The rising piano and ethereal vocals join to create a feeling of ascension from the pits of despair to a new world full of hope.
‘The World Above’ carries with it the perfect blend of softness and hard-hitting lyrics that makes Lou’s work so incredibly moving. Its upbeat bedroom-pop-style guitar riffs, combined with Lou’s delicate vocals, allows her work to take on a vulnerability and realness which resonates deeply with her listeners. This vulnerable honesty seems to be as healing for her as it is for her fans.
Speaking recently about ‘The World Above’, Lou said “This song feels like a hand reaching down and pulling me up from the abyss… I wrote it in a moment of intense self-reflection as I began embracing who I am, loosening from the grips of addictions and feeling as though I am enough.”
Alice Phoebe Lou’s musical career so far has been one of independence, perseverance, and vulnerability, and her latest song perfectly reflects this. With her upcoming place on indie icon Clairo’s North American tour this autumn, Alice Phoebe Lou is well on the way to securing her position in the indie hall of fame.
Words by Serena Murphy
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