Lisel (Eliza Bagg) returns with her latest release, The Vanishing Point, an expansive exploration of vocal experimentation, pop tropes, and the existential anxieties of living in an era of crisis. Blending mainstream aesthetics with avant-garde sensibilities, Lisel crafts a boundary-pushing electronic landscape that foregrounds melody and operatic drama within the framework of contemporary pop. As a professional opera singer, Bagg brings a unique perspective, using her classical training to create songs with grandiose scope, all while working within the pop medium. The Vanishing Point—the follow-up to her 2023 release Patterns For Auto-Tuned Voices And Delay—seamlessly integrates auto-tuned and manipulated vocals with striking electronics, resulting in a vivid, emotionally charged sonic experience.
The first single, “Time & Money (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying)”, introduces listeners to the album’s conceptual themes. Beginning with harsh metallic percussion and distorted speech samples, the track builds with driving synths and Lisel’s soaring vocals. It quickly transforms into a futuristic soundscape, offering a speculative narrative from the perspective of an engineer resetting the simulation of our existence. With its edgy, yet danceable energy, “Time & Money” sets the tone for The Vanishing Point’s ambitious exploration of the human condition.
Drawing on mythological storytelling, Lisel transforms dystopian tales into allegorical pop songs. The Vanishing Point paints a sonic portrait of a world on the edge, where ancient musical traditions meet hypermodern sounds. The result is a high-concept work that blends operatic scope, experimental pop structures, and hyperpop motifs. The album’s emotional directness and sonic depth reflect the shared experience of confronting an uncertain future, ultimately leading to the vanishing horizon.
Tracks like “Rings” fuse baroque-inspired clavier synths with futuristic themes, while “The Past Is A Tiger” grapples with collective responsibility for past mistakes. Meanwhile, “On The Road To” combines harsh metallic sounds with electronically fabricated harpsichords to depict a futile path forward. Each song functions as a modern-day parable, blending ancient myth with contemporary pop to form a dystopian fable for our times.
Visually, photographer Carla Rossi complements Lisel’s sonic world with a series of hyper-stylized images that draw on Renaissance and Medieval painting. These photographs position Lisel in classical poses, wielding symbolic objects, bridging the gap between storytelling of the past and a digital, imagined future.
With The Vanishing Point, Lisel continues to dismantle genre conventions while forging a path that merges operatic expression with cutting-edge pop, crafting a soundtrack for a world on the brink of transformation.