Photo credit: Pamela Ayala
‘Siren 042’ follows the September release of Lala Lala’s critically acclaimed album The Lamb via Hardly Art, which was named one of Best Albums of 2018 by ArtForum, Bandcamp Daily, Under the Radar, Treble, and more, while Stereogum named ‘When You Die’ one of their Best Songs of 2018 (the band was also named one of Stereogum’s Best New Bands of 2018).
Of the collaboration, Lala Lala’s Lillie West says, “Yoni once talked me down when we were on the the strongest LSD of my life and I claimed to be ‘drowning in a river of sadness.’ I text him when I’m sick. Is he my life coach? Seems that way. I am a WHY? super fan and making this song was a dream come true. I hope to trick him into letting me into his home and more collaboration soon.”
WHY?’s Yoni Wolf adds: “From the golden olden days when Lillie used to sneak backstage at WHY? shows to drink up the whole rider and taint the water supply while the band was on stage, I never would have guessed I would end up such close friends with the Lala Lala songwriter. But fate has a strange way of contorting space, time, and our better judgements. I’d say we started to get close when we sat down for my podcast and talked it all out. I feel confused. I just adore her.”
Photo credit: Katie Hogan
Praise For The Lamb:
“West masters the delicate task of balancing self-improvement with brutal honesty.” — Pitchfork
“Lala Lala rules…the Chicago indie rock band makes music to get devilishly messy to.” – The FADER
“A doomy musing on death it might be, but Chicago’s Lillie West infuses her indie sorrow with a dreamy pop grace.” –– The Guardian on “Dove”
“As the album hops between lo-fi pop and scuzzy rock, West’s musings are nuanced and naked in their emotional outpouring.” — PASTE
“The Lamb is introspective to the point of pure transparency, allowing West the room to firmly establish her take on indie rock.” — The AV Club
“West writes allegorically yet intensely…The Lamb hinges on a dynamic pairing of lucid dream pop and misty post-punk. Each reverb-laden guitar stroke, breathy intonation, and crisp production choice—not to mention the crunchy power chords, yelly climaxes, and coarse drum counterparts—sound purposeful, because they are.” — Bandcamp Daily
“At its core, The Lamb is an album about a lack of control. It operates between two poles, shifting between paranoia about the apocalypse and the insular struggle of rewiring your brain during struggles with addiction. Both of them stem from feeling like you have no say — over your actions, your destiny, or what might happen to you at any given moment.” — Stereogum ‘Band To Watch’
“The Lamb is both raw and guarded, drawing on a listener’s empathy but stopping short of sharing everything. It makes you want to listen through it repeatedly, trying to put together the pieces… Lala Lala is going to blow up after this album comes out, and it’s already overdue.” —Chicago Reader
“West’s music is all about light and shade, nuance and restraint… A real find.”
— Breaking Act, The Sunday Times Culture
“An introspective track that looks inwards but still manages to feel uplifting” — DIY
“She puts the world to rights via brutally honest lo-fi-ish tunes about insecurity, and the pains of growing up.” — Dork Magazine
Lala lala: Website – Bandcamp – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
