Alice Phoebe Lou Performs Songs from New Album Oblivion; Alone In ‘Their Original Forms’

Alice Phoebe Lou’s newest record, Oblivion, is a solitary one. Aside from being written, performed and produced by herself, it’s very spare compared to her other recent albums, made up of lulling acoustic songs about the curves of love, loss, and self-acceptance as they appear through her eyes. Accordingly, she came to Atlanta on her Oblivion tour to perform these songs alone in what she called “their original forms.” 

Alice Phoebe Lou (Photo: Mary Beth Bryan)

John Andrews (sans The Yawns) came out first to open the show. It was just what we needed to gently usher us into the space, a quiet and calm rendering of songs old and new; Andrews recently released a record, as well, called STREETSWEEPER. He thanked us sincerely for listening (“Usually people talk over my set”) and reminded us all to bend our knees so we didn’t pass out, followed by a wave of responsive bobbing in the crowd. 

John Andrews sans The Yawns (Photo: Mary Beth Bryan)

Alice Phoebe Lou came out shortly after, catching the spotlight’s glow with long blonde hair and a sparkling dress. She opened on “Hammer” from her 2023 album Shelter, following it up with a few songs from the new album. About a third of the way through her setlist–which included a generous 24 songs–she gave us a luminous cover of Angel Olsen’s “Unfucktheworld.” 

Alice Phoebe Lou (Photo: Mary Beth Bryan)

A high point in the show was Lou’s performance of “Old Shadows,” which she said was the song on the record that means the most to her. In fact, she explained that her setlists for this tour were all about playing the songs she really wants to play. “I’m here. I’m giving you everything I’ve got,” she told us. From the corner of my eye, I even saw a security guard humming and tapping along to this one. 

Toward the end of the set, Lou admitted to us that despite her history as a busker, she’d been really nervous to go on this tour, wondering if she’d be enough on her own. Her presence was more than enough for the fans in the audience, though, who seemed nothing short of enchanted by her calm ethereality. She wasn’t so alone anyway between a few reappearances by John Andrews supporting her on guitar and keys throughout the set and a wholesome sing-along of “Harvest Moon” with the thousand beating hearts in her audience. Lou’s final message for the room was a reminder to stay soft, and that “When shit out there is going crazy, we’ve got each other.”