LOS ANGELES, CA- Following Allie X’s career has always felt like receiving a gift. Knowing what she’s endured behind the scenes… from chronic illness and personal battles to the immense creative weight she carries as a self-producing artist… it’s hard not to marvel at each new release. Even if we don’t know the full extent of her struggles, it’s clear that every piece of music she puts into the world comes at a cost, and that makes the arrival of something like “Reunite” feel twice as precious.
I’ve been along for the ride for nearly eight years now, first catching her in 2018 at LA Pride (now Outloud Fest) in West Hollywood Park. She was on the main stage and simply captivated me. Her music was pop, but there was an extra spark: something sharper, stranger, more ingenious. Over the years, watching her evolve from album to album, she’s proven herself to be a chameleon: switching styles, moods, and tones with ease, and embodying entirely different personas in her live shows. Sometimes it’s been towering bouffant hair and retro glamour, other times minimalist black skirts and stark pale skin, and occasionally something audacious, like huge lace frills shaping her bodice.
Now, in this new era, she’s landed on another stylized vision: eccentric hair framing a demure black dress, pale and almost spectral, but commanding all the same. The first single from her forthcoming Happiness Is Going to Get You, “Is Anybody Out There?,” was a booming anthem with synth chords big enough to fill a stadium. But with “Reunite,” she offers something more playful and bright… and surprisingly tender.
The track opens with a harpsichord flourish before locking into a sleek synth-bass groove. On first listen, it’s a pure pop ditty, but then the lyrics hit: “Trauma’s complicated / When you went away I dissociated…” The verses mine heavy territory, but the chorus flips the perspective: “I’m not mad anymore / In fact now I’m doing fine / I’ve gotten wiser with age / Will you let me back into your life?” There’s a lightness in how she delivers it, a melodic bounce that almost recalls Erasure. It’s impossible not to move with it, and impossible not to smile.
Allie X herself describes the track as “a truly wholesome and very personal song about coming back together as a person when life has broken you apart. It is a celebration of growing up and understanding that my body has always been on my side, despite feeling the opposite for most of my life.” That sentiment cuts to the core of what makes this song so powerful: it’s not just reconciliation with another, but reconciliation with herself.
What’s striking is how… at least to me… happy the song feels. Not just sonically, but thematically. It plays like a reconciliation with the self, an embrace of growth and acceptance. In a way, it’s the most optimistic Allie X has sounded in a long time. For me, it’s a reminder of why her music resonates so deeply. It’s not just about pop hooks or stylized personas, but about transformation. She’s always been an artist who can turn hardship into something exhilarating, and “Reunite” proves once again that she knows how to alchemize struggle into joy.
Simply put: this one’s a banger.
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