Review: Going Through It by Eliza McLamb released via Royal Mountain
In November 2023 I caught an Eliza McLamb set in Portland opening for illuminati hotties. From there I heard some of the singles as well as the Salt Circle EP but always hoped for a full length from Eliza. Now we’ve come full circle, the true debut is here and has i.h.’s Sarah Tudzin on production.
Going Through It is sort of dual-genre with some lower and moodier folk songs and a couple of indie rock cuts as well. The folk tracks are sort of what you’d expect of the genre and aren’t sonically much to write home about but what makes them highlights is McLamb’s exceptional vocal ability as well as the way she shakes up tracks in short little bursts. Opening track “Before” for example has a conclusion where its percussion picks up, its mood totally shifts before coming to a sort of abrupt end. These rock moments are all so interesting to me because they come so fast and potent before all ducking back and getting into the main focus on the project as a whole.
There are some anomalous moments but nothing quite like “16.” Coming in the middle of the record, this one is a bleak look into adolescence, eating disorders and trouble communicating with your parental figure. All of this set to a backing so somber and melancholic it actually made me into a bigger fan of McLamb in general once I sat down and listened with no distractions. Paying attention to nothing but the record is where it’s at its strongest and when I listened to the album casually a lot of the stories and passages were sort of lost on me shy of key moments like the opening lines of “Just Like Mine” or the half concerning, half sort of gay “Glitter.”
I wanna kill your boyfriend.
On the phone you said, “I promise, I know it's bad.”
And when I come home on the holiday you tell me everything.
Whispering in my bed like we’re thirteen again.
I had heard “Mythologize Me” as a single and for a spell was convinced it was the best song on the record. This is where the Tudzin-production comes out the most. There is a soft-sung vocal performance which comes off as loud and effective regardless of volume. There’s a neat guitar solo. There’s also pained and honest narration about anchoring onto someone who loves you for your faults to the point of purposely flaring them up and in turn the author stops working on themselves in fear they’ll be left behind. If you’re looking for i.h. moments there are others on the record, see “Punch Drunk,” see “Anything You Want.” For me I find myself the most in “Just Like Mine.” On this one Eliza describes fitting into someone so perfectly and knowing it’s working out but also worrying maybe they see you as an obligation. I’ve misread a lot of close relationships in the past, maybe I’ve been the person who mythologized the one on the receiving end. I know I try my hardest, now anyway, to not turn everything into a catastrophe but it’s all a process.
The real, actual gem on Going Through It is “Modern Woman” where Eliza really comes into her own. These are her best lyrics to date, some of which gave me pause during my note taking session. Between those lines, the hook, the scream and the bittersweet sonics Eliza makes a name for herself. Not a producer or an act she’s warming up for, the moment is hers and hers alone. Even then she spends the bridge being exhausted with the every-changing expectations of womanhood in every facet of our lived reality. Finally, on “To Wake Up” she connects all the stories, all the expectations and the various theses on the record as a whole as well as the actual record as a whole with one simple question.
Isn’t it enough to wake up?
Our score of Going Through It is 8/10.
Our favorite track is track 10, Modern Woman.
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