Little Simz built Stillness in Wonderland around a single idea: Alice in Wonderland as a frame for her own life, full of shifting moods, sudden turns and characters who don’t always behave as expected. The album moves between introspection and force, with interludes that act like stage directions, pointing toward the next room rather than standing on their own. It’s a dense record, 16 tracks in 50 minutes, and it doesn’t waste a second of it.
Opening With LMPD
“LMPD” opens the record with a steady, patient build, setting a tone of calm before things start moving. “Cheshire’s Interlude: Welcome to Wonderland” follows at 1:02, a brief breath that sets up the space she’s walking through. “Doorways + Trust Issues” picks the pace back up, a song about holding on to what you know while the world keeps changing around you.
Her (Interlude)
“Her (Interlude)” runs 1:57, a shorter pause that gives the listener a moment to catch up before the record’s center begins to move again. “One in Rotation + Wide Awake” follows, a track about being caught in a cycle she can’t escape, and it’s one of the sharper songs here — the flow stays tight even as the subject matter grows heavier.
“Shotgun” slows things down, a quiet, unhurried song that stands apart from the tracks around it. “Picture Perfect” takes a similar path, a song about wanting things to look a certain way when nothing feels settled underneath.
Cheshire’s Interlude: Misled
“Cheshire’s Interlude: Misled” is another short pause, just 0:44, doing the job of connecting rather than standing on its own. “King of Hearts” picks the pace back up, a song about standing firm against pressure from others. “Bad to the Bone” follows, a song about strength that doesn’t need to prove itself.
“Zone 3” and “Poison Ivy” sit side by side in the middle stretch, both songs about relationships that don’t quite work, one about distance and the other about control. Neither reaches the heights of the record’s best moments, but neither drags either.
Cheshire’s Interlude: Stay
“Cheshire’s Interlude: Stay” closes the loop, 0:41 of linking material that points toward the album’s end rather than standing as a statement in itself. “Low Tides” follows, a song about the low moments that come after the high ones, and it’s one of the stronger cuts on the back half.
“No More Wonderland” ends the main body of the record, a song about wanting out of the world she’s trapped in. It’s a fitting closer, even if the record isn’t over yet. “Our Conversations” brings the album to a close at 6:08, the longest track here, a song about memory and the conversations that still echo inside her head.
What Stands Out
The strongest moments on Stillness in Wonderland are the ones where the concept stops being a trick and becomes a tool. “One in Rotation + Wide Awake,” “King of Hearts” and “Low Tides” all use the Wonderland frame without letting it get in the way of the song beneath it. The interludes, by contrast, are often thin — useful for pacing, less useful as music.
Where It Falls Short
The middle stretch drags slightly, with “Zone 3” and “Poison Ivy” failing to match the energy of the songs around them. The record also leans on a single framing device more heavily than it needs to, and some of the songs feel like they’re explaining the metaphor instead of living inside it.
The Verdict
Stillness in Wonderland is a confident, uneven record from a young artist working through ideas bigger than the songs themselves sometimes hold. The best tracks — “One in Rotation + Wide Awake,” “King of Hearts,” “Low Tides” — rank among her sharpest work, while the interludes and the middle stretch show where the ambition outstripped the execution.
Stillness in Wonderland earns a score of 7 of 10.
Key Facts Box
– Artist: Little Simz
– Album: Stillness in Wonderland
– Release type: Album
– Tracks: 16
– Total running time: 50 minutes
Numbered List
1. Best track: “One in Rotation + Wide Awake”
2. Strongest interlude: “Cheshire’s Interlude: Welcome to Wonderland”
3. Weakest stretch: “Zone 3” and “Poison Ivy”
4. Longest track: “Our Conversations” (6:08)
5. Shortest track: “Cheshire’s Interlude: Misled” (0:44)
- LMPD4:04
- Cheshire's Interlude: Welcome to Wonderland1:02
- Doorways + Trust Issues4:13
- Her (Interlude)1:57
- One in Rotation + Wide Awake3:55
- Shotgun3:08
- Picture Perfect3:03
- Cheshire's Interlude: Misled0:44
- King of Hearts3:32
- Bad to the Bone3:15
- Zone 33:41
- Poison Ivy3:29
- Cheshire's Interlude: Stay0:41
- Low Tides4:00
- No More Wonderland3:37
- Our Conversations6:08
