West Coast indie pop meets Gen Z existential dread in the second output from newcomer Wallice. In a world of highlight reels, hustle culture, and collective burnout, the LA singer-songwriter’s new single “23” emerges as a tongue-in-cheek contemplation on the urgency to come of age. “23” follows Wallice’s debut track “Punching Bag,” an instantly relatable lo-fi anthem on unrequited friendship.

Through a series of witty, self-effacing refrains, “23” sees Wallice lament her life’s choices. She’s trapped somewhere between premature nostalgic mourning for her youth – “tell me what is wrong with me, I miss my Ohio fake ID” – and delusions that turning a year older will bring her stability – “Maybe I’ll get married soon, and buy a house with three bedrooms, and settle down, and get a dog, and make my partner get a job.”  The track comes accompanied by a video which perfectly illustrates these frustrations, directed by Taylor Fitzgerald.

Wallice shares; “It’s hard not to compare your own professional success to that of your similarly aged peers. I dropped out of university in New York after studying Jazz Voice for a year, and my dad was VERY disappointed to say the least, so it was hard not to feel like a loser in that sense. When I was younger my best friend and I would always talk about the cute apartment we would get after high school, but I found myself at 22 still living with my mom and wanting to move out but not able to quite yet. The specific age 23 doesn’t have any milestones associated with it, but it’s more the idea of just looking forward to the future. 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. “