Today, ascending artist Alessi Rose returns with her new single “First Original Thought” and its accompanying music video. Out now via Capitol Records, the sardonic but sublime new track is the first song released from the upcoming deluxe edition of the 22-year-old singer/songwriter’s acclaimed EP Voyeur, out on November 7.
Said Alessi, “Voyeur Deluxe stemmed from me continuing to write on tour after Voyeur was completed and craving some more big, melodramatic pop songs to perform at my shows, whilst also being in the headspace of wanting to write about things in their most raw and uncomfortable honest forms, in real time.
Produced by GRAMMY® Award winner Blake Slatkin (Tate McRae, Rosé), “First Original Thought” finds Alessi co-writing alongside Slatkin and Amy Allen (the 2025 recipient of the GRAMMY® Award for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical, whose credits include smash hits like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”). True to Voyeur’s blunt yet vulnerable storytelling, the glittering track hits back at a guy who’s realized too late that he’s thrown away someone much too good for him.
“‘First Original Thought’ is a cheeky yet cutting song about somebody realising they missed you and need to grovel to try and get you back, far far too late after it’s over,” says Alessi. “It came from a joke I made about the guy having original autonomous thoughts for the first time ever, and now he’s realised that he misses me, and the song kinda ended being a funny hyperbole of that whole situation.
One of three new songs featured on Voyeur (Deluxe), “First Original Thought” takes the form of a disco-leaning alt-pop banger built on strutting beats and pulsating grooves. With equal parts playful attitude and visceral emotion, Alessi kicks off the track with a perfectly tongue-in-cheek takedown of the one who’s done her wrong: “You had a revelation last night/Did Jesus tell you I’m the love of your life?” Powered by an unstoppable energy (thanks in part to the song’s lush abundance of live guitar, bass, keys, and drums), “First Original Thought” ultimately orbits around an electrifying vocal performance from Alessi, whose voice reaches the stratosphere as she delivers a killer punchline at the chorus (“God, it must be hard/Having your first original thought/But you’ll always be you, and I’ll be a star”).
Directed by Ben Cole (Kylie Minogue, Rosalía) and filmed inside an old asylum chapel, the fantastically choreographed video for “First Original Thought” finds Alessi leading an exercise class for a group of guys from all walks of life. As the song rolls on and the room gets increasingly sweaty, Alessi once again reveals her effortless star power and heartfelt passion for pushing all boundaries.
Released in July, Voyeur quickly earned major praise from the likes of NPR’s All Songs Considered (who included it on their roundup of the best new albums out that week,) PEOPLE, Wonderland and DIY (who declared that “Alessi Rose has firmly secured her status as pop’s hottest new It-girl”). Meanwhile, Dork Magazine stated that “Voyeur is a document of a young woman watching herself mess up in real time and making brilliant pop out of the wreckage. Brave, spiky and self-assured, it marks Alessi Rose not just as one to watch, but one who’s already arrived.” Earlier this summer she graced the cover of NME, accompanying her feature story with a specially curated playlist titled “Songs To Imagine Me Whispering In Your Ear Whilst Draped In Lace.”
Next Thursday in Seattle, Alessi joins the North American leg of Tate McRae’s Miss Possessive Tour. Bookended by her own headlining Voyeur Tour, her run of dates with Tate follows an action-packed summer whose highlights include making her Glastonbury debut, which Billboard called “superstar-cementing” in their “Best Moments of Glastonbury 2025” recap. With two U.K./European headline tours already under her belt (both of which sold out in less than 10 minutes, subsequently upgraded venues, and immediately sold out again), Alessi also recently joined Dua Lipa in arenas and stadiums across the pond on the Radical Optimism tour. Go HERE for more info on Alessi’s upcoming live dates.
Tracklist for Voyeur (Deluxe) by Alessi Rose
1. “Same Mouth”
2. “Take It or Leave It”
3. “Everything Anything”
4. “Stella”
5. “That Could Be Me”
6. “RIP”
7. “Bittersweet”
8. “Dumb Girl”
9. “First Original Thought”
10. “Get Around”
11. “Falling Forever”
