Album Review: 'Stage Girl (Not a Dream Anymore)'
- Adrianna Guimaraes
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
by Adrianna Guimaraes
Genre: Pop/R&B
On Halloween of 2025, Eli released her debut pop record, ‘Stage Girl’. Growing up in a strict town in Massachusetts, there was a limiting sense of freedom encased within her childhood; feeling almost trapped from the version of herself that she yearned for. However, the singer fondly reminisces on the magic of her favorite holiday, Halloween, which served as the one time of year where she felt truly free and could step out into the world, and be whoever she’d like to be. Years later at the age of 25, the release date of this record, symbolizes a full-circle moment as the little girl dressed in costume, now hits the stage as a glittering pop-diva, and a sign to other trans-youth that their time will also come.
As we dive into the record, we are introduced to Eli’s world of fantasy, femininity, ambition, and coming-of-age. Showcased with insane pop vocals that are accompanied with some occasional whistle notes and scored with punchy drums, tender piano, and infectious hooks. In each song we see the world through the lens of a doll, through bright-fizzy 2000’s inspired pop. Whether its reflections on womanhood, or snarking shots at exes, Eli contains multitudes that feel like intimate confessions that live inside a diary or a journal (perhaps all being where the singer's infamous handle “@journalofadoll” derives from!) . As upbeat as this record might be, ‘Stage Girl’ does delve through the struggles that trans-folks face. On the closing track, ‘Somebody I’m Not’ Eli tells a story of how throughout her life, one thought always came back to her: how her greatest fear would be to die trapped within a body that she did resonate with. The singer belts, “Just thinking/ I don't wanna die/ In the body of somebody I’m not.” The track serves as a reminder of the life-saving qualities that gender-affirming care provides to trans individuals in the world and offers food-for-thought to transphobic narratives that dehumanize transgender individuals. These are human beings, not political debate topics. We’re put on this Earth to spread kindness and joy, and yet this is a community that is constantly deemed to not be deserving of such. But as she found who she was and stayed true to herself we see the despair is replaced to utter
happiness. "I Wish I was a Girl” finds Eli exploring her desire of femininity, with her wish of her exterior matching her interior, “I wish I was a girl/ Pretty on the inside/ Redesign my outline/ If I was a girl/ Hair below my waistline/ Her image is realized.” As the song progresses, the whimsicality of the production feels as though we’re apart of a makeover montage where on the second chorus she sings, “I might just be that girl/Pretty on the inside/Getting to this outline/ If I was a girl/Hair below my waistline/Femininely realized.” By this point we get a beautiful whistle note that sounds like glitter as she feels deeply fulfilled within her desire and feels endless beauty as she looks like the person she painted out to be.
If Eli is one thing though, it's surely a student of pop-culture. Her hours of being chronically online are not just hilarious, but are utilized in the highly intentional rollout of this record. From creating a “Khia Asylum” haunted house, taking over Zane Lowe’s Apple Music station, or 15-second Tik-Tok’s where she reminds A-Listers such as Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande to be mindful that they’ll never be trans, Eli bridged her humor and talent to create community. One of the most iconic moments of this rollout, was on the release day, where the singer decided to promote her album by performing outside of a nearby Spirit Halloween. Doing this act was not only iconic, but a callback to the greats before her such as Lady Gaga’s Ikea Parking Lot performance or Halsey in the mall, and being her own right of passage to stardom. And perhaps so it was. When Eli embarked on her headline tour, the world took notice.
The internet buzzed loudly, as stars from the likes of Zara Larsson, Jae Stephens, ADÉLA, Madison Beer, and Demi Lovato, all got the great opportunity to come out on Eli’s tour for the LA-nights, creating mega-viral moments. Since release, ‘Stage Girl’ has seen to a steady incline, through both growth, streams, and conversation. In late March, Eli was invited back on Apple Music for Zane Lowe’s “26 for ‘26” which showcased 26-rising stars for the new year. The live performance featured gorgeous live renditions of some of her ‘Stage Girl’ cuts including, viral-pop hit “Girl of your Dreams” and the heart-struck “Marianne”.
7 Months since the initial release of ‘Stage Girl’ and following a successful headline tour, Eli has revisited the project with a new outlook, almost as if a prophecy has been fulfilled. What started as a fantasy that existed within the walls of her LA bedroom, ‘Stage Girl (Not a Dream Anymore)’ finds the singer at new heights in her career; the Stage Girl has made it past auditions. The redux contains 7-new deluxe tracks along with a remix of Zara Larsson’s ‘Crush’—also featured on Zara Larsson’s all-female collaborative album, “Midnight Sun: Girls Trip”—breathing new life into the ‘Stage Girl’ narrative. Not a Dream Anymore serves as a reminder of exactly what made us fall in love with Eli in the first place: gorgeous tender ballads, (‘Feel Your Rain’ & ‘Beyond the Bend’) kiss offs to an ex (‘Glitter’) and giving us exactly what we need to break off into a 2000s dance battle with the abrasive ‘F**k the DJ’. Listening to Not a Dream Anymore you can’t help but feel as though everything has changed from where Eli has started. On the new closer, ‘Just for Show (Stage Girl Final Performance [Live from the Bedroom])’ Eli hushes, “If I tell my parents, will they be ashamed?//Boy in a bedroom, girl on a stage.” But the narrative is different now. The scenery has changed, Massachusetts became LA, hundreds became millions, and Eli has learned that the stage isn’t just her own private playground of fantasy. The pop diva’s recipe of stardom isn’t just a plan anymore, it's reality, transcending into our lives, one shimmering drop of glitter at a time.
