ALYSSAD CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF NEW SINGLE ‘COOL GIRL’ WITH A HEADLINE HALLOWEEN SHOW
HARVARD & STONE — LOS ANGELES, CA
Harvard & Stone was bewitched last week when rising alternative artist ALYSSAD took the stage to headline Dirty Monday’s Halloween show. Introduced to the night’s audience—very accurately, might I add—as an artist with the most *killer* potential, she opened her set with a cover of The Last Dinner Party’s infectious and fitting “This is the Killer Speaking”.
It’s hard not to pay attention to the artist on the stage when she’s dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein with impeccable fashion sense, but the audience truly was locked in from the start. The crowd jumped and sang along to her special Halloween setlist, which featured covers of songs like Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” and Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Spellbound”. Though she sprinkled in these crowd-pleasers, no one missed a beat when it came time for some ALYSSAD originals—a major and oftentimes rare feat for any emerging artist. Her smash debut single “puppetmaster” is always a fan favorite along with the hauntingly beautiful “butterf(lies)”, but getting the chance to hear unreleased track “siren” and her incredible vocal performance with standout rock single “holy ghost” were major highlights of the night.
A ferocious cover of Halsey’s “Lonely is the Muse” was not only a treat but a full-circle moment for the artist. Prefacing the cover, she explained that a previous performance of the song caught the attention of future co-writer Lina Cooper, who then connected her with Mark Aguilar, the engineer on “Lonely is the Muse” and now producer of ALYSSAD’s latest—and arguably greatest—single, “cool girl”. Despite Halloween being the holiday, ALYSSAD’s true special occasion was most definitely the release of “cool girl”, with the track dropping on October 31st.
The song prompted another of the night’s most memorable moments when she stepped off the stage and into the crowd, handpicking an audience member dressed as a Playboy Bunny to join her on stage and be dubbed ‘Miss Cool Girl’ (sash included, of course). When our ‘Miss Cool Girl’ of the night returned to the audience, ALYSSAD dove headfirst into an earth-tilting performance of “cool girl”. The brand new track is a pointed and cathartic confrontation with misogyny and society’s expectations and limitations for women and girls, with biting lyrics like, “Since I’m just somebody’s daughter / Should I be another lamb for the slaughter?”
At only twenty years old, ALYSSAD is shaping her identity not only as an artist, but as a young woman. With the unapologetic release of “cool girl” in the face of today’s political landscape, and her already harnessed ability to truly connect with a crowd, ALYSSAD is exactly the kind of artist you root for. This latest single is fuel to her fire as she continues her upward trajectory, and as we head into 2026, I, for one, cannot wait to see what she does next.
