Hidden Gems: Elyse Alexander

From fangirl to right on top of the stage, Elyse Alexander has turned into a rising sensation with her authentic, beautiful personality and heartfelt lyrics, slowly but surely gravitating her increasing fanbase towards her. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter, having recently released her debut EP ‘Bitter In Between the Better’, is already excitingly making 2021 her year to shine.

Chuckling over the built-up emotion that comes flowing out during late-night songwriting sessions, the lyricist at heart expresses that “it’s always lyrics first, I’m very much a lyric person”. Varying from composing verse to verse or sometimes writing a whole song in one sitting, poetry is a prominent part of the Utah-based musician’s creative process, with a poem she’d written called ‘The Love Letter To My Past’ being incorporated into and referenced in the lead single ‘Sugarcoat’ from her debut EP. The honesty and sincerity that are infused in Alexander’s work have allowed many to resonate closely and feel safe with her as an artist and whilst listening to her music ensemble. “It’s okay to just be sad or angry and just to sit in those feelings,”, Alexanders further emphasises – a message that is prominent in both the poem and ‘Bitter In Between The Better’ as a whole.

Having been greatly influenced by strong, talented songwriters such as Lennon Stella and Julia Michaels, Alexander has always been a “fangirl first” and “still is that fangirl live-tweeting everything”, never thinking that one day she could and would be on the other side of the fan to artist relationship, recording and releasing her own magical melodies. Dreaming of the day that the lights go down, that very first note gets played, the audience starts screaming ecstatically, and the world of touring finally resumes, the singer recalls when she was eight or nine years old and saw a video of the one and only Taylor Swift, another one of her absolute heroes, playing the guitar and wishing to one day be on the stage herself, fondly reminiscing getting her first-ever guitar that same Christmas.

I think I leaned more towards the black and white theme because I’m such a fangirl, so I know that when I listen to music, the cover has a lot to do with how a song feels.

With colour and enchanting aesthetics being a big part of any music release, the singer-songwriter was always on top of how important those creative choices were, leading up to the release of her debut EP. Contemplating for a few moments before answering, the young singer further expresses: “I think I leaned more towards the Black and White theme because I’m such a fangirl, so I know that when I listen to music, the cover has a lot to do with how a song feels.” Henceforth, the beautiful B&W aesthetic of her EP cleverly leaves each song open to each listener’s own interpretation, allowing the individual listening experience to be even more personal and meaningful.

“My goal is to even just help one person, because I personally have been on the end of music saving my life multiple times,”, the 19-year-old concludes, who, like many of us, has taken immense comfort in music during times of difficulty and challenge. Connecting to so many hearts already, there’s so much more to come for the talented superstar as she continues to write new music and share her stories with the world. And one thing is for sure – this truly is only the beginning for the amazing Elyse Alexander and we already cannot wait to see what’s next.

Written by Issy Todd // Photo by Elyse Alexander