Alessi Rose Gets Real: Raw and Unfiltered on Voyeur

Review by Caitlin Kennedy-Sheerin
With Voyeur, Alessi Rose encourages listeners to become exactly that – a voyeur of her raw and unfiltered thoughts and feelings. Released on July 25th, Voyeur marks yet another milestone in Rose’s growing career amidst touring with Dua Lipa and playing festival after festival. 

Rose lays herself bare in this EP, inviting her audience to peer into her mind and soul, witnessing her at her most vulnerable. From the opening ‘Same Mouth’ to the closing ‘Dumb Girl’, Rose takes us through a whirlwind of emotional turmoil, owning her messiness, and navigating life’s hardest situations.

It’s no secret that Rose makes catchy music. Her ever-growing and quickly expanding fan-base proves this. But it’s the relatability of her music that draws you in; the raw truths that others are afraid to express. Rose takes her vulnerabilities back and asserts herself through them. The EP feels real, because Rose is keeping it real. Her thoughts are thrown out there unashamedly for us to listen to and absorb. In turn, we become voyeurs of her.

​To put it simply: Alessi Rose is unabashed in her honesty, and Voyeur showcases this beyond a shadow of a doubt.
 
There's something for everyone: the highly anticipated studio version of ‘Stella’, or the irresistible catchiness of ‘Same Mouth’, or the frustrated yearning of ‘That Could Be Me’. Each song offers something unique, which is why listening to Voyeur feels like a rollercoaster.

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Enjoying all six songs made it incredibly difficult to choose standouts. After listening to the EP on repeat (admittedly more times than is probably healthy), I managed to narrow it down, though not without difficulty.
 
If you’re somebody who finds it particularly difficult to relate to love or break-up songs – whether from a lack of romance, or a lack of heartbreak (lucky you!) – Rose manages to offer what other artists sometimes struggle to do. She isn’t singing about romantic heartbreak; this is platonic heartbreak. ‘Stella’, the fourth track of the EP, stands out beyond belief. While I’ll admit some bias, having anticipated this studio version for a long time, it absolutely meets, and exceeds, all expectations.

‘Stella’ fits perfectly into the EP’s central theme; we, the listeners, become voyeurs to Rose’s innermost thoughts and feelings, including the breakdown of a friendship. This isn’t just a pretty ballad – it’s a poignant exploration of the inherent complexities of female friendships, and the deeply painful heartbreak of having to accept their breakdown.
 
Rose’s choice to open the song with the lyrics “Stella, I never saw you as a liar / We’d laugh ‘til we cried like two houses on fire” immerses us immediately into the core of this fractured friendship. While it was once a blazing bond, it is merely reduced to an image of pure destruction. Referring to her and Stella as “two houses on fire” is complex in itself - it simultaneously highlights both the intensity and destructive potential of their bond. From the very beginning of the song, Rose makes it clear that we aren’t just listeners, but witnesses to this deeply personal and painful loss.
 

​As  the song progresses, Rose reveals her exhaustion. She sings, “She spits out my name just to act like we're fine / But I tried with her, tried with her”. I’m sure every listener can empathise with Rose, the repetition underscoring the exhaustion of desperately holding onto a relationship that’s already slipping away. I’m sure many of Rose’s listeners recognise that helplessness and the pain of wanting to salvage something despite the pain it causes you.

Rose slams the door shut on Stella in a moment of clarity amidst her hurt, declaring, “Stella, I’m over, Stella, I’m out / ‘Cause I don’t get the joke every time you’re around”. The sting of cutting off someone who once meant so much to you is palpable. Rose isn’t angry, but instead resigned. The exhausted reality of a bond broken beyond repair hits both Rose and the audience like a tonne of bricks.

​By addressing Stella directly, Rose pulls us into this intimate moment between former friends, almost witnessing the resolution of her hurt in real time. The EP’s title has never felt more appropriate: she speaks without a filter, as if in direct conversation with Stella that we have no right to be part of, yet we can’t turn away.  We’re invited into this raw and candid address of Stella, seeing the depths of Rose’s emotions. There’s no sugarcoating or avoidance – just a direct address of platonic heartbreak. Rose isn’t just recounting her story; the audience becomes complicit in it, cementing us as voyeurs.
 
Each song invites us as voyeuristic consumers of Rose’s thoughts and feelings. In ‘RIP’, she invites us again into the messy and exhausting aftermath of heartbreak, further cementing us as voyeurs that are here to witness her most painful and vulnerable moments. The tone of ‘RIP’ is different to that of ‘Stella’ – rather than a sad ballad, Rose delivers a volatile mix of anger and hurt for us to prey upon as voyeurs. The delivery is harsh and direct; Rose’s frustration means that she isn’t messing around here. Not only that, but the vulnerability beneath the anger seeps through, and the audience sees Rose as not only angry, but as hurt. Again, we’re pulled into the atmosphere, the title of the EP echoing in the back of our minds.

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Rose lays the rawness of her pain bare from the opening line, “I wanna die / When you say you love me”. She shows us her most vulnerable thoughts as she recounts the way that this love is more of a burden than a blessing to her. She dismantles this love and affection in lines like “It’s cloaked in necessity, it’s not what you mean,” and encourages the audience to see the performative nature of this love. We’re forced to witness a messy and painful heartbreak as Rose confronts her ex-lover.
 
Her candid admissions reveal to us the broadness of her suffering and pain that extends beyond this romantic heartbreak and even ventures into platonic heartbreak – “Been hurt the worst by girls who swear that they’re my friend.”  As voyeurs, we’re granted entry to the deepest and darkest corners of her mind and the varying unfiltered emotions that linger. This echoes the fractured friendship that is explored in ‘Stella’, where Rose also exposes the pain and complexities of letting go and saying goodbye. In doing this, she enriches the themes of vulnerability and emotional messiness prevalent throughout the entire EP.

Rose’s pure and unbridled messiness, and unashamed invitation to her audience to listen into these experiences and feelings, is what makes this EP so fantastic.

​Voyeur is an unflinching invitation into Alessi Rose’s world, where honesty is unapologetic and vulnerability is considered to be strength. Each song feels more like a conversation or direct address rather than merely lyrics. Rather than shying away from her messy truth, Rose claims her mess back and turns it into something beautiful – music that can resonate profoundly with thousands and thousands of listeners. The EP title aptly describes her audience as we’re made complicit in these conversational songs, unable to look away or stop listening. 

Rose’s ability to make her songs deeply personal is what ties her audience in and creates such a powerful connection between artist and listener. Voyeur isn’t just any EP; each song immerses the listener into Rose’s unguarded and unashamed emotions. Rose leaves a mark on each listener, forging a deep connection and cementing us all as voyeurs.

The release of Voyeur is followed by a UK/EU Tour starting in Berlin on September 1st.