Strictly speaking, OBLIVION is not just an album, but also a compilation. The songs we hear on it were created over the years and independently of each other. What they have in common: They are things that Alice Phoebe Lou never formulated with her band. What they also have in common: On this album, which she produced herself, they are reduced to the maximum; almost sparse guitar or piano tones are sufficient as accompaniment, which are rarely supplemented with other instruments. It’s a throwback to her early years as a musician on the streets of Berlin, but with an update.
Editorial recommendations
The album sounds contemplative and allows you to listen to songs that rely more on the constant flow of sound than on a concise melody in “Sparkle”. The most beautiful words in this work can be found here. “The worst advice that I’ve gotten from the world was to never change,” they say, and they suggest something else: for the South African, OBLIVION is also a kind of reflection and at least the hint of a new era: she has now turned her back on Berlin and lives in a much warmer place.
The ebb and flow of these songs suggests that she is completely at home there. Or to put it in her own words: “Don’t look back in anger / For those days they are gone / And there are many yet to come.”
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 11/2025.