Five Seconds Flat – Lizzy McAlpine’s Sophomore Album and Short Film Analysis

Photo via Euphoria Zine

Following several singles and music video releases, Lizzy McAlpine released her 2nd studio album Five Seconds Flat in the spring of this year.

Lizzy McAlpine – known for her debut album Give Me A Minute, viral TikToks of her music, and her work with artists like Jacob Collier and John Mayer – has yet to embark on her own headline tour until this year following her spring release. She set off in July to tour across the United States starting in California, and will make her way through Texas to perform at Antone’s Nightclub in Austin on September 30th before ending her tour in Europe during November.

The first single of Five Seconds Flat was released in October of 2021, which coincided with the song’s Halloween associations and announced the visual album to pair with Lizzy’s sophomore album. “doomsday”, the first track, first single, and first music video of the album sets the tone for the narrative journey Lizzy takes the listener through in her sophomore work. Exploring themes of loss in relationships, the cycle of grief and learning to find joy again after heartbreak, Lizzy combines the forces of her music and the visual artistry of the film to communicate the journey she experienced. “doomsday” introduces the beginning of this journey, and uses the visual motif of the skeleton to represent the death of her former relationship as narrated in the song.

The visual album then takes us through the scenes of Lizzy and her friends preparing to go to a party, and uses tracks from the auditory album as the backing tracks to these moments. “what a shame” is used as her friends sit in her bedroom getting ready for this outing, where they walk into a house and dance to the bridge of her song “firearm”. In the bathroom, Lizzy is reminded of the weight of her grief as her friend encourages her to entertain someone new in order to move on, symbolized by a quick flash of the skeleton makeup she wears in “doomsday” as she looks at herself in the bathroom mirror.

The rest of the party is soundtracked to “an ego thing”, then cuts to the next morning, where Lizzy finds herself waking up next to someone unfamiliar. This begins “erase me”, co-written by Lizzy McAlpine and Jacob Collier, in which Lizzy confronts the idea of moving on, both for herself and in the shoes of her former partner. As Lizzy examines the drunken night she had with this stranger, she wonders what it will take for her to be able to shed the haunting memories of her previous love, and in the same vein, “who will erase [her]” from their memory. The song builds beautiful tension and emphasizes the painful question she poses lyrically through the musical build created by electronic synth and powerful harmonies performed by both Lizzy and Collier. The track stands out as a different sound for McAlpine’s typically acoustic style, and showcases her powerful range as a songwriter and vocalist. The visual chapter for the track ends with the reprise of the skeleton motif showing her mourning the loss of her relationship, painted in the skeleton makeup at the football field where her partner ended their relationship. She is comforted by her friend who assures her that she will feel better in time as Lizzy sheds tears about her lost love.

The film jumps three years ahead through a film montage of Lizzy’s life and into chapter three, bringing us to a gas station where Lizzy and her new partner browse the isles. This begins the video for “all my ghosts”, which shows Lizzy enjoying the company of her new-found love in the simplest of settings. Starring a cameo from Jacob Collier as the gas station attendant, “all my ghosts” describes Lizzy enjoying her new romance while also acknowledging the emotional wounds she bears from her previous battle with love. The sweet moments shared between Lizzy and her new partner are derailed throughout the scene as Lizzy sees mirages of her ex in place of her new partner, in windows and in mirrors, acknowledging that “all her ghosts are with [her]” as she still carries the weight of her trauma, and knows that her new partner can “feel it too.” Still grappling with the intense loss she faced years ago, Lizzy struggles to find peace in her new reality.

Scene four takes us to the middle of a dirt road as Lizzy and her new partner argue, setting the scene for “reckless driving” (feat. Ben Kessler). In this scene, Lizzy comes to find that her new relationship is not sustainable, the metaphor of her partner being a reckless driver communicating that she doesn’t feel safe in the intensity of their partner’s love. Lizzy refers to herself as a “careful driver” in the metaphor, compared to her partner’s “reckless” love that will eventually end in disaster. The film depicts tension between the two as Lizzy comes to this realization as her partner comes to visit her family for the first time.

A quick snippet of “ceilings” plays in their car ride to her house, and Lizzy finds herself lost in her own thoughts during what would predictably be an exciting moment in their relationship. When her partner asks her how she’s feeling, we see the skeleton motif appear in makeup on her partner’s face instead of her own for the first time in the film. The song build in a panic as Lizzy gets stronger in her realization that she needs to let go, emphasized by the recurring imagery of her partner in the skeleton makeup, symbolizing the death of their relationship. The film depicts the breakup between the two visually, showing clips of the pair arguing and tensions rising while the song picks up velocity, alternating the repeating choruses from both vocalists to emphasize their internal disconnect. The vocals of the track get louder and louder with panic rising in the voices of both artists, and the film depicts the pair driving right into the figure of her partner in the skeleton makeup before the song ends abruptly, as to symbolize the crashing of the car and their relationship ending in disaster as she predicted. From here, Lizzy is shown walking away from the accident at dawn, dropping to her knees in the street. Soundtracked briefly to the track “weird (feat. Laura Elliot)”, Lizzy is visibly wounded and crying at the memory of the love she shared with her most recent partner before the screen cuts to black. 

The film introduces it’s final scene with film footage of Lizzy’s initial partner from the beginning of the film, and begins “hate to be lame (feat. FINNEAS)”. We see Lizzy and her first love re-connecting and falling back in love after years apart. The song describes her coming to terms with this realization as the scene shows Lizzy and her partner holding hands and laying together at a park, dancing in empty rooms, and sitting at the football field where they first broke up years ago. The bridge of the song brings us backwards through Lizzy’s journey to this point, back to where she started in “doomsday” in her skeleton makeup in a hallway, scared and distressed, and then juxtaposed by her in her skeleton makeup on a stage. She is dressed in a suit, illuminated by a spotlight, and seemingly ready to take control her mourning that she previously let control her. The film credits roll to a series of outtakes as the closing track “orange show speedway” plays, ending the film with Lizzy’s conclusion of joy at the end of her journey and shown visually through clips of joy throughout the process of the film’s production.

McAlpine’s craft throughout the auditory album and the writing of the film showcases her immarkable skill for storytelling, and creates an incredibly impressive piece of art for such a young talent. With Five Seconds Flat only being her sophomore album, it’s clear that there is incredible potential for McAlpine in her future as an artist as she searches to push the boundaries of songwriting and storytelling in various impactful methods. Lizzy McAlpine will be finishing up the rest of her sold out headline tour this fall, you can join the waitlist for a show near you at https://lizzymcalpine.com/tour/.