More about: Alison Wonderland

It seems like the past couple of years have brought artists to explore the depths of their ‘emo’ side... Self-reflection and self-discovery have fuelled the creation of beautiful albums, not only in the indie-rock and pop-punk genres, traditionally associated with emotional outpouring, but also in the ever-changing genre-bending spaces such as EDM. However, Loner by Alison Wonderland might be the first time an electronic producer and artist has managed to blend emotional content with anthemic drops so seamlessly. 

As a pioneer of the unconventional, blurring musical lines and deconstructing styles to build entirely unique soundscapes, Alison Wonderland has never failed to keep us on our toes and this is no exception. Her third studio album Loner, “the most positive, hopeful album I [Wonderland] have ever written”, encapsulates many familiar and relatable emotions cleverly laid on brilliant electronic production with unexpected twists. 

From the very first second of the opening track ‘Forever’, Wonderland sets the tone for what’s going to be a rollercoaster of emotions conceived in the midst of a chaotic moment when the world was forced to come to a stop. The phrase “oh, where to start…” is the first lyric in the whole album, delivered with airy harmonies that close in on the listener mirroring the suffocating feeling of trying to recount the past few years. As the track grows, an eye opening line takes you by surprise as Alison edges you into a magnificent drop with the words “…and it will feel like forever, until it doesn’t, I heard you say”.

After the listening to that first track, everything starts falling into place thematically. With the tracks ‘Safe Life’ and ‘New Day’, the Australian producer complements the narrative by sharing the message of living your life at the fullest focusing on the present moment while giving yourself the freedom and permission to fall in love with the days to come. ‘Down the Line’ and ‘Something Real’ add an extra sense of hope and excitement for the future, especially as the artist sings “we’re right here, it’s not in vain”. On the B-side, there’s equally powerful songs like ‘Cocaine’, ‘Fear of Dying’, and title track ‘Loner’, where Alison opens up about her inner world in a way she hasn’t in the past, showing herself as vulnerable and very much human. 

Having had an incredible journey in her musical career and amassing over 800 million streams, Wonderland was used to touring sold-out arenas and playing in some of the biggest festivals, but her life, as all of ours, had to pause. “My life was going a certain way before something pulled everything out from under me,” she recalls, “I felt like I had hit my rock bottom.” However, unlike past albums, she “decided that I didn’t want to be the victim anymore. Instead, whatever I wrote from here would empower me, and help me find strength in this loneliness. For me, Loner felt like a rebirth,” Alison explains. “I owe it to whoever else is out there who was like me, wishing that they had an album like this to empower them to feel less alone and know that it’s all going to be okay one day”.

Fierce, impressive, vulnerable, hopeful and indeed empowering, Loner is also the wet dream of festival crowds. The production is not only dynamic, it’s explosive, and with several organic elements such as cellos, guitars, whistling and more, the creative process incorporates the human element in a dreamy way creating those special moments that will be forged into thousands of people’s memories once she performs them live. This juxtaposition between the personal and the communal is definitely the soul of this album and can be perceived beyond the lyrics vs. sounds.

With intricate sounds and disarming and raw feelings supporting wickedly clever lyrics, Loner is Alison’s best album to date and without a hint of a doubt, it will inspire her fans to look ahead to a better tomorrow while rewarding their resilience with some raving and fire tracks. 

Loner arrives 6 May via Universal Music Australia.

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More about: Alison Wonderland