IT FEELS like the beginning of a new chapter for ELIZA. Eight years have passed since the platinum-selling artist stepped away from the major label system and left behind the name Eliza Doolittle to forge her own path as an independent musician. Now she has written her first love song.
Her studio albums, A Real Romantic (released in 2018) and A Sky Without Stars (released in 2022), struck a chord with their meditations on climate change, intimacy, desire, and community. With Anyone Else, she opens her next chapter with warm, slightly distorted guitars, a soulful falsetto and lyrics that feel both precise and tender.
We sit down with the singer to explore what it means to reinvent oneself through a renewed understanding of love, once time and distance have allowed space to reflect on the creative process.
You’ve mentioned that Anyone Else is the first love song you’ve ever written. What made it possible to write about love now in a way that you couldn’t before?
I’ve no doubt had issues with commitment in the past. And it’s commitment to self more than anything. Everyone is worthy of love, but it’s hard to accept it for yourself at times, and now I thankfully have. That was the first step, I believe.
You’ve got those gut-wrenching lyrics: “Afraid of love, I sabotage myself to gain the illusion of control.” Do you think falling in love automatically entails losing yourself?
Yes. Love is selfless. In true moments of love, there is no self, I think love is knowing that we are everything. When I’ve sabotaged the opportunity for loving connection in the past, it’s because I’ve tried to gain control in moments of fear and overwhelm. I also think that when you commit to a partnership, you are no longer acting from a place of total selfishness; you are thinking of that person and their needs too, and you are constantly figuring out how to balance each other’s happiness without compromising on core needs. A great connection will allow both people to thrive. It’s a dance.
Photograph: Phoebe Salmon
Do you feel like real love is an act of rebellion in today’s society?
When you say real love, do you mean partnership? I’m in a more traditional monogamous relationship, and maybe that is becoming a rarer commodity. Loving connection comes in many forms and can even be in a smile you give someone passing by, a conversation, looking up towards the sky, cooking a beautiful meal. Love can be in everything you do. I do think partnership is a beautiful thing, I would highly recommend. It brings purpose to your life and holds a mirror up to your pain, and can be an effective way of learning about yourself and growing, rather than running away every time you are confronted with difficult aspects of your relationships and self.
What headspace were you in when you first approached the single?
A realisation that I’m in this relationship for a reason. There’s always been a sparkling cosmic thing between us. We are there for each other, we’ve been through a lot together, this is it, there’s nobody else for me. And more than anything, I wanted him to know that I felt this way.
You’ve walked away from all major labels and completely reinvented yourself. What have you learned about ownership?
I’m not sure if I learnt this from that experience, but maybe partly. That ownership is a belief that humans have created. Nobody actually owns anyone or anything. We were all born here, and it is our right to exist without anyone else encroaching on our choices. Sadly, the World has really tuned into the idea of ownership, and I hope it changes.
Looking at the artwork, it’s screaming liberation. What parts of you did you want to stop holding back?
Every part. The good, the bad, the ugly, the dark, the light, the child, the mama, the mischievous, the solemn, the sacred, the silly, the sad, the angry, the joyful, honestly just every part.
What does freedom look like to you in both sound and style?
Birdsong and A Starry Night Sky by the Woods.
Photograph: Phoebe Salmon
Aesthetically, how do you want to evolve?
With grace.
What’s been the most cathartic lesson you’ve taken from the last 8 years?
To allow my emotions to exist when they come. Welcome them, try and let them rise through me with an open heart rather than resisting them or clinging onto them. Listening to them. Meditation and breathing help.
Who’s ELIZA now?
I’m still the child I used to be, in awe of this life. It’s such a huge question, and I honestly feel like I’ve always been made of the same stuff, we all have. We’re made of stardust. Every single one of us.
by Adina Ilie
ELIZA’s new single ‘Anyone Else’ is out on 28 November.
Photographer: Phoebe Salmon @phoebesalmon
Stylist: Molly Shillingford @mollyshillingford
Art Direction: Rae Elliman & Carmen Hall @raechenelliman @carmenrosyhall
Makeup: Dasha Taivas @dashataivas
Hair: Hiroshi Matsushita @mr.hiroshi.matsushita
Producer: Maya Dufeu @mayadufeu
Production Design: Ellen Wilson @ellen_irwilson