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Photo by Anthony Nguyen

Everyone fell in love with pop's latest icon, Eli, when she dropped "Girl of Your Dreams" earlier this year, the catchy, nostalgic, early-2000s pop hit we’ve all been craving. With co-signs from artists like Doechii, Lizzy McAlpine, and Meghan Trainor, Eli has been using TikTok as her own personal audition to be the next big pop star. Now, with the release of her album, Stage Girl, she's taking the scene by storm. 

The opening track, "Stars (Lullabye)" is an instant hook. While many artists have leaned into 90s and Y2K revival sounds, Eli manages to make it feel authentic. Her music is for the girls who grew up dancing in their bedrooms and picturing themselves on a stage – "Stars" opens the album with that exact feeling. 

The production on all the entire project felt effortless, but the lyricism ties it into a glittery bow. Stage Girl deals with topics of gender and self-belief in a way that feels both intimate and subversive. Eli herself described the “stage girl” as a kind of divine delusion – the belief that a girl singing alone in her bedroom could one day make rent from her art. It’s that mix of delusion, confidence, and humor that makes this album so special and one of our favorite debut albums of the year. 

There’s a strong emotional core here too. Tracks like "Somebody I’m Not" and "I Wish I Was a Girl" show a more vulnerable side to Eli that we cannot wait to continue getting to know. As one listener wrote, “This is queer Bible. I feel very seen,” Stage Girl builds a world that reflect the messy process of becoming. This album  shows that the stage IS for the dolls.