Lala Lala

Lala Lala emerged as a reflective yet abrasive indie rock outfit based in Chicago and fronted by singer-songwriter Lillie West. The project climbed from basement performances in the local D.I.Y. underground to a contract with Hardly Art, the Sub Pop subsidiary that issued the band’s second album, The Lamb, in 2018. A brighter sonic palette surfaced two years later on I Want the Door to Open, a set co-produced by Yoni Wolf.

West was born in London and spent her teenage years in Los Angeles before relocating to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. There she immersed herself in the city’s D.I.Y. music circles and launched Lala Lala in 2015, channeling personal experiences and emotions into her material. The band’s self-released 2016 debut, Sleepyhead, arrived with a harsh, raw, and distinctly lo-fi character, yet West’s confessional approach also lent it tenderness and vulnerability. After a break-in at her apartment and the loss of a close friend, she entered a turbulent period that prompted sobriety and deeper immersion in songwriting. Once signed to Hardly Art, she recorded a more inwardly focused collection that became The Lamb; the album earned strong critical praise, won a devoted audience, and sent West on extensive tours. In 2019 Hardly Art reissued Sleepyhead on vinyl for the first time, introducing the earlier recordings to fresh listeners.

Lala Lala’s next full-length appeared in 2021 with a more luminous, philosophically inclined tone partly drawn from the Myth of Sisyphus. Again working with Yoni Wolf of Why?, the record included contributions from Ohmme and Landlady’s Adam Schatz as well as a duet with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.