Lizzy McAlpine is Outside of the Moment in New Single, “Pushing It Down and Praying”

Stripped back and simple, Lizzy McAlpine introduces her new single “Pushing It Down and Praying” with a lone acoustic guitar. Her lyrics immediately set the scene, placing listeners in the middle of an intimate bedroom scene. Twinkling piano notes accent key lyrics like ”When I close my eyes” and “Wearing no disguise.” The tone quickly takes the hint from her fleeting visions, wandering away from the presumed romance and into the dissonant awkwardness of replacing a present lover with one from the past.

The voices of beloved trio Tiny Habits enter the scene in the way voices from your environment might seep into a dream. Their gentle and affecting hums linger behind the first chorus and second verse, eventually becoming inseparable from the tension that rises, climaxes, and falls again throughout the center of the track. Guilt begins to drip from McAlpine’s silky voice as she continues to implore her lover to keep going, all while calling out to her past in the same breath: ”Softer, harder, in-between / You know just how to get to me / He is stable / You are deep / I know just how to get what I need.” Now they are joined by a full band, which forms like an invested audience watching as the sequence plays out.

The melody comes full circle by closing out with the same acoustic pattern heard earlier. This suggests that this may not be her first time facing these feelings, and makes the track disturbingly easy to listen to on repeat. 

You can listen to  “Pushing it Down and Praying” now on your favorite streaming and buying platforms. It precedes the deluxe version of her spring record, Older (and Wiser), set to release via RCA Records on October 4th. Be sure to also catch her on the Older tour this winter.