Biography
Hailing from Brighton, singer and songwriter Lydia Evangeline first rose to attention as one half of the folk-rock duo Wayward Daughter before striking out on a solo pop trajectory in 2018.
Born Lydia McAllister into a household steeped in music, she grew up with a mother whose relatives were classically trained instrumentalists and a father whose deep passion for the art led him to share artists such as Billy Joel, the Police, Mott the Hoople, and the Carpenters with his children. At age 13 she took her initial creative steps by crafting a poem for a school competition and then setting those words to music. An intense teenage fixation on Paramore soon broadened into admiration for folk and rock acts including Dry the River and Mumford & Sons.
In 2012 she formed Wayward Daughter with guitarist Becky East; the self-managed pair quickly became a streaming phenomenon, issuing four EPs and one album, opening for McFly, and building listeners across multiple continents. Wider exposure arrived in 2016 when the duo appeared on trance producer Gareth Emery’s “Reckless,” taken from the album 100 Reasons to Live, a track on which McAllister wrote and sang the lead vocal while appearing prominently in its video. Wayward Daughter parted ways amicably that same year, after which East launched Maypine while McAllister joined Jake Isaac’s touring band, performing worldwide and supporting artists such as Elton John.
She began her solo career in 2018 with the single “Coldest Shadow,” releasing four more singles that year and gathering them on a self-titled EP. Those recordings shifted her sound away from Wayward Daughter’s folk-rock roots toward polished, expansive electro-pop.
Born Lydia McAllister into a household steeped in music, she grew up with a mother whose relatives were classically trained instrumentalists and a father whose deep passion for the art led him to share artists such as Billy Joel, the Police, Mott the Hoople, and the Carpenters with his children. At age 13 she took her initial creative steps by crafting a poem for a school competition and then setting those words to music. An intense teenage fixation on Paramore soon broadened into admiration for folk and rock acts including Dry the River and Mumford & Sons.
In 2012 she formed Wayward Daughter with guitarist Becky East; the self-managed pair quickly became a streaming phenomenon, issuing four EPs and one album, opening for McFly, and building listeners across multiple continents. Wider exposure arrived in 2016 when the duo appeared on trance producer Gareth Emery’s “Reckless,” taken from the album 100 Reasons to Live, a track on which McAllister wrote and sang the lead vocal while appearing prominently in its video. Wayward Daughter parted ways amicably that same year, after which East launched Maypine while McAllister joined Jake Isaac’s touring band, performing worldwide and supporting artists such as Elton John.
She began her solo career in 2018 with the single “Coldest Shadow,” releasing four more singles that year and gathering them on a self-titled EP. Those recordings shifted her sound away from Wayward Daughter’s folk-rock roots toward polished, expansive electro-pop.
Singles
