It’s still early days for Wallice, but it feels as if the sky is the limit for this 22-year-old singer. She has an understated star power and writes lyrics that cut to the core of the uncertainties of life in your early twenties with a self-deprecating poetry and wry smile. On the two songs that she’s released so far Wallice writes about relatable experiences and the support that has come from fans and tastemakers has been widespread.
Wallice attended the New School’s Jazz Vocal Performance program in New York but dropped out after a year and moved back to California, living at home with her parents and working on her own music. That decision is paying off now, but new single “23” digs into how she felt at the time. “[The song] is about living in my mom’s house and feeling like a failure. 23’s not an old age, and it really shouldn’t be considered that, but I think the media makes it sound like we should be so much further along—especially with all these literal child stars to compare ourselves to. It’s so easy to think about where you should be in life, and what you could be doing to get closer to your goals, but it’s also so easy to sit around and put things off until tomorrow. And sometimes I think that’s an okay thing to do.”
Working with producer and childhood friend Marinelli, Wallice has honed in on a nostalgic, live-feeling indie rock sound that feels more urgent than much of the bedroom pop-adjacent music that is so abundant today. With an entire EP on the way with more driving hooks and lyrics that punch you in the gut like a Phoebe Bridgers couplet, Wallice is well on track for a breakout 2021.
With a sound described as, “West Coast indie pop meets Gen Z existential dread”, Wallice is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, who despite only being 22 years old, has been honing her craft for many years after first dabbling in song writing while still in middle school. After a year spent enrolled in The New School’s Jazz Vocal Performance program in New York City, Wallice returned to LA to focus on her own music, the latest taste of which emerged this week in the shape of new single, 23.
Thematically, “23” is perfectly of-the-moment but sonically, Wallice’s sound is a throwback to around the year she was born – the confectionary riot grrl indie pop of artists like Liz Phair or bands like Bratmobile. Like the riot grrls, Wallice understands that sugar helps mask the taste of strychnine. Add in a dollop of humor and a ton of personality via her impressively well-executed lo-fi music videos .
The follow up to well-received debut single, Punching Bag, “23” is a song of prematurely feeling nostalgic for your youth, as Wallice explains, “much like how people ‘reset’ every new year, it’s comparable to be ‘older and wiser’ with each birthday, but instead of constantly looking to the future, it is important to be happy with where you are.
The track has a personal twist, as Wallice sings of her fathers disappointment at her dropping out of college and feeling like a failure for still living in her mum’s house. Musically, the track is like a bombastic take on the bedroom pop of Soccer Mommy or Snail Mail, the intimate lyricism fused to a deliriously unhinged guitar-line. Wallice might be worrying about the future, on this evidence there’s no need, she’s a star in the making.
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