If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Rick Soszynski Lily Seabird has seemed to be right on the verge of blowing up, and she just might based on the killer singles from her upcoming album. The Vermont artist's latest single, "Lightspheres on Their Way," keeps Seabird's indie rock meets folk sound intact. While most of her songs lean one way or the other, this latest one lands right between the two genres. It's a mostly solo song (for the first half, at least), with gritty and fuzzy guitar before the full band kicks in. It goes from Neil Young guitars to a Springsteen anthem at the halfway mark, all while keeping Seabird's indie sound in place. Of all the songs we've heard from her over the years, "Lightspheres on Their Way" sounds the most like it could end up being a breakthrough hit. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: "Lightspheres are so many things throughout this record, UFOs, memories, dreams, people, an unknown force pushing and pulling us through. Without b...

Photo by Noah Lenker The past two singles from Lily Seabird have been larger, more rock based songs. The Vermont artist is back with another single that shows off her more folk and Americana side. "The Afterglow" is a quiet song that focuses more on Seabird's vocals and lyrics. It has a slight twang to it, and strings that seem to counteract that style. Those opposing sounds end up working rather well together, and help make "The Afterglow" one of the most compelling songs out there. This is a track that sounds well polished but with a rougher, more lo-fi edge to it. We're currently in a time where artists aren't constrained by strict genres or styles, and that lets an artist like Seabird shine. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: “For part of this song, I imagined the perspective of the person who crashed their car through our fence and into our yard a couple weeks before,” says Seabird. “I wrote this song when I still lived at trash mountain. I met...

Photo by Noah Lenker Vermont's Lily Seabird has an epic new single out that is going to blow some minds. "Portal to the Past" is going to remind a lot of you of Neil Young at his noisiest. It still has roots firmly in folk and Americana, but this is a noisy rock track, even at its slowest. As "Portal to the Past" plods along over its seven minute length, you wait and wait for an explosion that never quite comes, which actually makes the song better. This is a highly emotional song that is going to shatter all expectations, even those of long term Lily Seabird diehard fans. "Portal to the Past" is a song out of time, that belongs in multiple decades and none at the same time. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: “Trying to describe what inspires my writing is hard to figure sometimes. A lot of these songs on this record wrestle with time and memory, our perception as it rolls forward, as the past gets further away and the future rolls out infinitely ...

Photo by Noah Lenker Lily Seabird has always been one of those artists that seamlessly moves between folk and indie rock, and combines the two genres in many of her songs. That's not the case with her latest single. "Election Day" sees the Vermont artist going full on indie rock, with a noisy and aggressive sound. I don't believe we've heard this level of volume from Seabird, and it's an interesting and welcome change of sound. It kind of sounds like Juliana Hatfield fronting Nirvana, with her vocals moving from her more delicate, folk-ish style to a full on roar at times. There is still song twang to the guitar... until it's drowned out by the squall. "Election Day" is a killer track from one of our newer favorite artists. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: “This song is about having to make a decision and both options are painful, confusing. I wrote this song on election day which works as a great metaphor for this in our current political...

Photo by Luke Ivanovich Golden Apples is the musical project of Philadelphia's Russell Edling. Their latest single, "Mind," is an oddly groovy song that blends the psychedelia of bands like The Apples in Stereo with a more modern alt-pop sound, with some 70's AM radio sprinkled in. The single is delicious power pop that has a lot more oomph to it than I expected. It starts off mid-tempo, and while it never quite picks up the pace significantly, it does get a little heavier with a bit more of an edge so slowly that you may not even notice. This is a fun single, and if you're into any form of power pop of psychedelia, it's well worth your time. Russell Edling says that his new single “... explores the futility of seeking peace via mindfulness amidst the constant sorrows of the times. Today, it is impossible to exist for a day without being faced with nearly unthinkable evils, and any defenses I had concocted to keep myself feeling sane and safe have been overwhe...

Photo by Eliza Callahan Friday will see the release of Lily Seabird's highly anticipated new album, and we have one last single to check out before it's released. "Arrow" deviates from previous singles a bit. While Seabird's last few singles went in a more alt-country or indie folk direction, this new one is more indie rock with some twangy elements. It still has some folk inside, and Seabird's usual intimate feel despite "Arrow" being a relatively huge song. This is filled with a huge amount of fuzz throughout, and it's the type of song that will endear Seabird to you even more. This upcoming Friday is certainly one of the biggest release dates of the year for us, but Lily Seabird's upcoming album is sure to be a highlight. Lily Seabird says of her new single: “This is one of my only love songs. It’s been really fun to play this one in the band and I like how it sounds on the recording, but I also really love to play this song on an acoustic...

Photo by Eliza Callahan Vermont's Lily Seabird has released a pair of sonically very different but thematically very similar singles. "How far away" is a just under two minute piano ballad. It's only Seabird's vocals and Sam Atallah's piano, and it's a completely compelling and beautiful song about loss. It's melancholy, but beautiful and surprisingly uplifting. "It was like you were coming to wake us back up" is about seeing someone outside of her house that looked like her deceased loved one. The second single is a full band track that is a little faster in pace, but not much. To me, "It was like you were coming to wake us back up" feels more pained, while "How far away" sounds more like reminiscing. Both are beautiful and powerful songs of loss that are well worth spending some time with. Lily Seabird says of her new singles: “‘How far away’ closes Side A of Trash Mountain and ‘It was like…’ opens Side B, but they'r...

Photo by Evan Loigon I absolutely adored Lily Seabird's 2024 album Alas,  so I'm thrilled and shocked that she already has a new album coming out in April. The first single from her upcoming album, "Trash Mountain (1 pm)," has that Americana meets indie rock sound we loved from her previous album. This one is leaning a little more heavily into the Americana side of things, particularly into alt-country. The song is quite twangy without fully being country. This is the type of song that's obviously going to work for those that love alt-country and freak folk, but it's also going to surprise fans on the indie rock side of things that typically hate Americana. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: “It started with thinking about touring and then, late stage capitalism, technology, climate change, my shortening attention span, but also shifting relationships and our ability to deal with the past and move forward.  I kinda just ended up at my house feeling really...

Photo by Jinni J For her next release, Vermont's Lily Seabird has signed with Lame-O Records and announced a new EP. The collection will feature songs from this year's excellent Alas, and two new songs. One of the new tracks has been released as a single, and you're going to want to check out "Fuckhead." This new song is a stripped down acoustic one, with just Seabird and a guitar. It's just as captivating as anything from Alas, and is almost painfully intimate. This is indie folk as it's absolute finest, and no one puts a song together quite like Lily Seabird. If you were as enamored as we were with her full length, you're going to love "Fuckhead" just as much. Lily Seabird says of her latest single: “I wrote this one when I was 16 and it felt great to sing on the day we recorded acoustic versions of Alas, songs.  It was for my friend Emmi who I was in my first band with when we were in high school. We used to think we were really cool and b...