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Lily Seabird is a perceptive songwriter who can channel moments when everything feels raw and overwhelming into something healing and galvanizing. With Alas, she confronts grief with palpable clarity on tracks that careen from delicate folk to blistering indie rock. While it’s her second LP, it serves as a proper introduction to an undeniable and idiosyncratic voice.
Though Seabird is now known as a solo artist and collaborator in Burlington’s vibrant music community, her journey started in Pennsylvania when she picked up the saxophone at 9. By 14, she learned guitar and started performing as Lily Seabird—after a brief stint in New York City she moved to Vermont which has been her home since 2018. "When I first came to Burlington, I was playing solo a lot," says Seabird. "The music started to strengthen once I played in other people's bands, and I invited them to join mine."
The songs on Alas, came from a particularly unmoored period for Seabird, including the loss of a close friend to suicide. “I wrote this album in 2021 and 2022 on the road, trying to figure out who I am,” she says. “The word meant a lot to her, and to our friends following her death. It’s an expression of grief, but also of letting go.” Even if the songs don’t always directly tackle this specific loss, there’s a sense of learning how relationships evolve or dissolve throughout the record. Take “Grace,” a reflection on female friendship, which features the lines, “I hope she's happy now she should be 25 / She taught me something that I thought I'd always hide.” Elsewhere, the knotty and unpredictable “Dirge” finds her singing, “I don't know if I believe in god / I don't know if I know how to go on.”
Seabird and Benny Yurco produced Alas, which was tracked at Burlington’s Little Jamaica Recordings with Greg Freeman and Zack James (Robber Robber, Dari Bay). It’s a quietly expansive album full of subdued, organic textures and moods. Songs like “Cavity” are lush and inviting with silky guitar and Seabird’s expressive saxophone playing. The 10 tracks on Alas, stretch out and leave space for introspection and deep listening with some tracks taking nearly seven minutes to mesmerizingly unfold.
After the digital self-release of Alas, and a small run of cassettes by Bud Tapes in January 2024, Seabird toured heavily throughout the year. Release parties sold out in New York City and back home, there were shows with artists like Owen and Allegra Krieger, her first performances in Los Angeles and London, and Seabird played bass in live bands for Lutalo and Greg Freeman. The record is being reissued on vinyl for the first time by Lame-O Records, accompanied by Alas, (acoustic versions), a sparse extended play featuring two unreleased songs captured one summer day to 8-track 1/2" tape in Northport, Maine.
“The songs of Alas, are about loss, coming of age, and sadness, but there are also all these moments where happiness takes over,” says Seabird. “It can be two things at once, just like the album title. Life isn't just pain and sadness, there’s also joy. They can all exist at the same time.” It’s a remarkably assured and vital statement from one of the most promising new songwriters.