ELIZA returns with her most expansive statement to date. The North London artist has released her third independent album, The Darkening Green, marking her first full-length project in four years. The nine-track collection arrives alongside the new single “Pleasure Boy,” a sensuous, rhythm-driven highlight that underscores the record’s emotional and political core.
Co-written and co-produced with Phairo and EMIL, The Darkening Green broadens ELIZA’s earthy alt-R&B palette. Themes of capitalism, burnout, nature, and human connection run through the project without sounding didactic.
“This album explores themes of concrete, capitalism, greed, connection through the smoke, the inevitability of nature, rejecting attempts to order nature and separate ourselves from it,” ELIZA said in a statement. She describes it as “praying for my own presence, lovingly protesting, healthy boundaries, admiration for the brave, commitment to serve the original spark of love, cosmic wonder, and never forgetting to make love and party.”
“Pleasure Boy” channels a slow-burning disco pulse and is influenced by icons such as Prince and D’Angelo. Lyrically, it is intimate and direct: “‘Cause when my eyes fall on your body I feel high… are you coming to your senses or to mine?” she sings.
Elsewhere, “Anyone Else” stands as ELIZA’s first true love song. By contrast, “Cheddar” is sharp and defensive. Addressing an exploitative working relationship, she sings, “You won’t make me bitter… roses blooming now with extra thorns,” over vintage funk drums and an urgent bassline.
Eight years have passed since ELIZA stepped away from the “Eliza Doolittle” moniker and the major-label system. Since then, she has built an independent catalog with A Real Romantic (2018) and A Sky Without Stars (2022). Motherhood, which she embraced last year, subtly reshapes the emotional register of this new work.
“Part of the reason we’re having issues within our communities, friendships, relationships, and ourselves is because of the environment and the world we’ve created,” she explains. That tension runs through “Fever Dreams,” a meditation on urban burnout: “Give them your sweat, give them your blood… what are you getting for it?” On “Spiral,” inspired by climate activist Greta Thunberg, she confronts collective denial.
The album closes with perspective. “Because We Can” samples the late Buddhist teacher Dr. Larry Ward: “There is a peace and there is a joy that pain cannot take away.”
The Darkening Green Tracklist:
1. For The Hell of It
2. Anyone Else
3. Fever Dreams
4. Cheddar
5. Major
6. Pleasure Boy
7. Spiral
8. Because We Can
9. Zombie-Like
Fans can now stream The Darkening Green, the new album from ELIZA, on all streaming platforms.
Photo: Phoebe Salmon
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