Lisa – Alter Ego

Lisa’s solo debut album should arrive with all the makings of a major pop event. She's one quarter of BLACKPINK, the star-in-waiting of HBO’s The White Lotus, and an LVMH-anointed darling – on paper, Alter Ego should make meteoric impact. Instead, it lands with a dull thud. The album doesn’t feel like an artistic statement so much as lab-assembled and A&R-curated; sterile and unwilling to take risks. Lisa cycles through a set of asinine 'alter egos' – Vixi, Speedi et al. – that exist to sell multiple copies of the same album, as the characters certainly don't relate to or shape any real sonic identity.

Musically, it is just as cynical. Rapunzel sees Lisa doubling down on frankly odd AAVE, while Fxck Up the World and Lifestyle lean into vapid braggadocio. The latter offers up a spectacularly empty flex: 'Drop tops and tank tops / Diamonds on my TikTok'. Alter Ego plays like a case study in pop vacuity, paint-by-numbers and originality-free.

Yet, there is merit to be found. Born Again – penned, produced and contributed-to by Raye – pulses with warmth and groove that would seamlessly sit alongside anything on Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia, with a bassline fit for Justice's Woman. New Woman boasts drumtight laidback Max Martin production, with a sharp Rosalía cameo adding some friction and bite. The problem? The magic belongs to Lisa’s collaborators, not the star who adorns every one of the seven versions of the album's cover.

Listen to: Born Again, New Woman, Thunder