There’s something bold about naming an album Make It Feel Like the Garden. It implies comfort, color, a curated kind of chaos, a place where wild things grow with purpose. And Eliza & The Delusionals deliver on that name with a record that blooms. It’s lush, warm, deeply layered, and full of gentle magic that pulls you in track by track, vine by vine. If Now and Then was the bright neon burst of early infatuation, Make It Feel Like the Garden is the quiet ache of long summer days, where time stretches and blurs in the haze.
This album moves like a dream sequence. Not in a floaty, distant way, but in that too-real, hyper-vivid kind of dreaming where every feeling is a little more intense, every moment a little more cinematic.
We begin with Coming to an End, a soft, glowing instrumental that doesn’t just introduce the album, it invites you in. It’s like the front gate creaking open on a late afternoon, the sunlight filtering through trees, a little breeze rustling the leaves. It’s not meant to wow, it’s meant to welcome. A sonic inhale before the garden fully comes into view.
Then Make It Feel Like the Garden sets the tone for everything that follows. It’s a natural evolution from their debut, less pop-rock punch, more dream-pop sprawl. There’s this panoramic, cinematic feel to the track, brimming with escapist energy. It bridges the shimmer of Now and Then with the gauzy textures of their new direction. The 1975’s influence starts to peek through here, but the band never loses themselves in it. They expand what they’re capable of.
She Sits Up So High catches golden hour. There’s a slick, sun-soaked ease to the guitar work and a nostalgic, late-‘90s weightlessness to the whole thing. It’s the kind of track that feels like a lazy and relaxed summer memory.
The album continues to blur and glide with short instrumental interludes, Iris, Marigold, Dahlia, and Arabella, each one serving as a fragrant breath between blooms. They’re not just palette cleansers, they’re atmospheric threads holding the record’s tone together. Field recordings, soft keys, saxophone, strings, they create that natural flow, making each transition feel organic rather than segmented. They’re the vines between the flowers, and they do their job beautifully.
Falling For You is the album’s knockout. It radiates charisma. Eliza leans into a slight rasp in her vocal delivery that feels totally lived-in, addictive and tender at once. There’s a playful brightness that channels The 1975’s flirtier side, but it’s grounded by the richness of her tone and a saxophone line that feels like it was made for dancing with your eyes closed.
Another You steps things up with the album’s true anthem. It starts subtly, almost unsure of itself, but builds into this massive, emotional release. You can feel the live energy radiating off this track, it begs for a crowd to scream it back. It’s emotionally charged and rhythmically driving, full of punch and purpose.
Then we get Hurts, which initially teases a ballad before flipping into a synth-laden groove that’s pure St. Lucia-style romanticism, think When the Night or Hyperion. It sways, it glows, it insists you move your body. The kind of track that reminds you dancing can be both joy and therapy.
I Wanna Love You is a love letter to the ‘80s done right. The build in this track is a thing of beauty, twinkling synths, soaring sax, and that lush, floral-pop feeling that makes the whole album feel like it’s basking in pink-and-purple light. It’s big, cinematic, and full of anthemic weight, but it never feels forced. It floats.
Lately, featuring Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups, keeps the chemistry high. Their voices blend in this shadowy, emotive duet that adds an edge to the record. It’s haunting and textured, a sonic change in light, like dusk creeping into the garden.
And then comes Everything That Isn’t Mine, a clear late-album standout. Funky, rhythmic, and effortlessly cool, this track demands movement. It’s summer-in-motion music, pure groove and glow. If this song isn’t in a movie or poolside playlist soon, someone’s asleep at the wheel.
Will She Know Today is a sugary alt-pop delight that throws back to the likes of Tal Bachman and other late-‘90s charmers. It’s got that slightly melancholic undertone paired with ridiculously catchy hooks, basically the entire early 2000s TV soundtrack feel bottled into one song. You could pitch this one straight to Smallville, One Tree Hill, or The O.C. and no one would blink.
Somebody is clearly The 1975-coded, but still all Eliza & The Delusionals. It’s groovy, emotional, and wrapped in sax-driven atmosphere. There’s something about this track that just feels important, a culmination of their sonic journey and a moment of absolute clarity. If it’s not the best track on the album, it’s at least one of the most essential.
And then, as we ascend into the album’s final moments, we get Madison, a closer that doesn’t just end the record, it lifts it. Eliza’s vocals here are breathtaking, some of her strongest to date. It’s not just a sendoff, it’s a sonic afterglow, a track that leaves you floating a little, heart full and head spinning.
Coming to an End Pt. II closes the loop with a soft, final wave. It’s the garden door swinging gently shut behind you.
Make It Feel Like the Garden sprawls like wildflowers, intentionally arranged but full of unexpected beauty. It’s romantic, emotionally rich, and sonically ambitious, pushing beyond the shimmer of their debut into something more nuanced, more atmospheric, more theirs. It’s not just growth, it’s full bloom.
This band is no longer proving themselves. They’re flourishing.
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Highlight Songs:
Falling For You
Hurts
I Wanna Love You
Everything That Isn’t Mine
Will She Know Today
Somebody
Madison
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Own it, Stream it, Forget about it?
Buy Make It Feel Like the Garden and devote your life to not only this record but also Eliza AND The Delusionals!
