Elizabeth captures the reckless thrill of romance like no other. On her debut album the wonderful world of nature, she stepped away from a messy divorce like a world-weary heroine pulling herself from the wreckage of a car crash: broken glass shining like glitter, bloodstains smearing like blush. Contrasting lush dreampop haze with visceral, disarmingly truthful lyricism, it was a pop record out of time — glamorous and tragic, ultra-modern and undeniably timeless, a queer answer to nihilistic, powerfully feminine pop heroes like Lana Del Rey and Lorde.

In 2022, Elizabeth returns with a suite of interconnected singles, three new songs that expand and complicate her richly alluring world. This time around, her music is animated by a jolting electronic pulse — a current of icy trap drums and unearthly vocal samples that firmly place the indie ingenue in the world of contemporary pop music. It’s a dramatic, exhilarating change of pace that stands in stark contrast to a new wrinkle that’s emerged in Elizabeth’s music: A new understanding that anyone — including oneself — can change. Although Elizabeth’s vices remain the same, the protagonist of these songs is far less willing to burn it all, more beholden to other lives and her own happiness, more instinctively aware that nihilism is a dish that only serves one.  

“Happier Now”, co-written with The Temper Trap’s Toby Dundas and produced by Tones and I collaborator Konstantin Kersting, is a perfect introduction to the Elizabeth of 2022. The lyrical motifs of the wonderful world of nature are recast in neon here, their old prismatic glow replaced by a dangerous, alluring coolness. Unlike Elizabeth’s protagonists past, though, the main character in “Happier Now” is marked by her defiance, her total refusal to backslide even as she’s pulled into an ex-partner’s web: “I am happier now,” she insists, “you’re not around.” 

Capturing hearts and minds of media and fans across the globe, Elizabeth has had widespread acclaim from The Saturday Paper, The Fader, Wonderland, frankie, Pilerats, The Music and Tone Deaf, amongst others, and has been included in Album of the Year lists across The Guardian, The Saturday Paper and the Herald Sun.