The Sound of Music: Alice Phoebe Lou and Art Without Constraints
Alice Phoebe Lou defies genres and musical conventions to create an experimental sound that explores collective nostalgia, intimacy, and female empowerment.
The Sound of Music breaks down how every little noise ― that instrument, that sample, that oh-so-significant pause ― makes a song special.
Written by Caroline Harrison
Photo courtesy of Andrea Rojas
Combining grooving, experimental instrumentals with whimsical vocals and subtle, yet powerful lyrics, Alice Phoebe Lou’s music details relationships, sexuality, and finding one’s place in the world. The South African artist has cultivated a unique, nostalgic sound based on the connection between her lilting, dreamy voice and a variety of supporting instruments and musical techniques.
After releasing her first EP in 2014 and later performing at a TEDx event in Berlin, Alice Phoebe Lou was offered multiple record deals but decided to remain independent, maintaining the creative freedom to find her own sound. With each album, she continues to earnestly tackle meaningful experiences and messages in new ways. Free from the pressures of a large label, Lou’s simple, holistic approach is a breath of fresh air: In an interview with Document Journal, she revealed that all she wants is “to move through my feelings and inspire others to have a deeper emotion.”
The songstress’ 2018 single “She,” written during the height of the “Me Too” movement, epitomizes her intentions to explore serious topics in a raw, empowering way. Singing “She, she / She, she / She looked out to the horizon / She didn't have much left to see,” Lou uses repetition and echoes to emphasize a shared femme feminine experience of realizing what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society and rejecting the limitations placed on them. When talking about the song with NPR, Lou revealed that this was “inspired by women who go against the prescribed boundaries and pave the way for other women to be empowered and realize their strengths.” For the singer and audience alike, “She” is a rallying cry for the women fed up with conformity in a world made for and by men, encouraging them to make a space for themselves. The song’s simple electric guitar riff and measured drumming lets Lou’s strong, thoughtful vocals shine through. As dynamics build with steady, increased percussion, sustained vocals, and calculated pauses, the song’s gradual climax energizes and empowers instead of overpowers — focusing solely on the woman singing her story and sharing her message.
Released in 2019, Alice Phoebe Lou’s second studio album, Paper Castles, uses ethereal, skillful vocals and otherworldly electronic and synthesized sounds to perfectly capture the dreamy nature of her subtle lyricism. Reminiscing on an old love with jazz-styled drums, synth pads, a light electric guitar, and backing vocals, “Nostalgia” sounds like a love-child between 2010s R&B and 1960s lo-fi jazz. Paired with Lou’s rich tone and strong vibrato, this song’s wistful lyrics like “And I'll take you dancing / I'll take you round and round / I'll lead you to the hilltops, and I'll take you on the ground / I may be daydreaming, but I'll be wondering what it's like / To be under your skin” embody that common longing for all-consuming love. Experimenting with elements of rock, jazz, electronica, and R&B, Lou pushes the boundaries of genres to create a song that deserves its apt title, “Nostalgia.”
Paper Castles’ sixth track, “Something Holy,” finds love and intimacy in a new relationship. In a Facebook Post, Alice Phoebe Lou shared that the song is “dedicated to all the women that held me through this process & made me feel less alone while I navigated my traumas & the darkest parts of myself.” Using intentional vocal breaks and ad-libs, she shows a carefree, playful side of romance, singing “All you had to do is see me / Really see me / Recognize the workings of my mind / And then touch me / Like something holy / And then touch me / Like something that is now but could never be.” Once again employing elements of electronica and R&B with heavy synth and scattered guitar motifs, Lou combines styles to create an emotional reflection of what she’s feeling. Near the end of the song, an energizing instrumental full of light vocal ad-libs and a dynamic electronic phrase emphasize Alice Phoebe Lou’s expression of universal emotions or experiences listeners may later have.
“Ocean,” the tenth and final track on the album, returns to her folk roots in what is a hauntingly beautiful piece full of movement, fluidity, and melancholy. The undulating xylophone motif feels like waves rising and falling in Alice Phoebe Lou’s emotional storytelling. The subtle backing vocals and soft synth pad add a sense of dramatic mystery, making the ocean feel sentient. Singing, “‘You said: "What I despair in you / I don't feel like I'm going anywhere with you / I might as well fling myself into your ocean / At least then I would be with you,’” Lou explores a fatalistic side of nature and society through an unfiltered lens. In her 2016 Mahogany Session, “Ocean” is stripped down even further. Playing the xylophone herself and singing in a light, quivering voice, Lou centers herself on the fluid nature of the song and her own voice. Backed by barely-there drum beats and synth, the Mahogany Session “Ocean” brings you to the wistful, desolate edge of the sea where Alice Phoebe Lou sings her siren song.
With a similar balance of electronica, rock, and acoustic styles, Lou’s third studio album, Glow, continues to subvert traditional boundaries of genres, creating an exploration of artistic vulnerability and the complexity of love. Its first single, “Dusk,” encapsulates the album’s freeform nature through distorted vocal effects, layered clarinets, and simplified phrasing from the piano and bass guitar. While the vocal distortion lends itself to an electronic tone, it maintains a sharp contrast with the jazz-like instrumentation of the piano, clarinet, and bass. An inherently flexible genre, jazz is a critical influence on Lou’s approach to songwriting. Combining traditional jazz sounds like the shuffling drumming style, bright clarinets, and the piano’s steady chord progression with her rich, measured voice, “Dusk” embodies the “elation and transcendental feeling of dancing and laughing and moving with your closest friend, to the point that everything disappears and worries cease for just one night,” as Lou shared with Consequence of Sound in 2020. With lyrics like “Oh, she's got this way of making you feel like / You've lived a thousand times / And never gonna die / And she shines illuminated by the strobe light / She smiles and everything will be alright,” Alice Phoebe Lou captures the dreamy nostalgia and melancholy of realizing the significance of a fleeting experience as it occurs.
As she continues to release music reminiscent of different times and genres, Alice Phoebe Lou defies modern limitations of sound and creates moving, complex art that demands to be felt. Coupled with musical techniques borrowed from jazz, rock, electronica, R&B, and more, her ethereal voice and unapologetic lyricism immerse listeners in a world of memories, reflection, and empowerment. Lou’s diverse discography proves her authentic, exploratory approach to music. Unconcerned about commercial success or popularity, it’s no surprise that Alice Phoebe Lou transports listeners to a different time and place: where art can be art without constraints.