Melbourne’s Alex Lahey released her debut album, I Love You Like A Brother, last month on Dead Oceans, and already it’s buzzing as one of the best first records of the year. In an interview feature with our own Steven Hyden, Hyden called the album “endlessly playable and catchy without ever being glib… even when Lahey works in ear-candy mode, her words cut deep.”
With the attention she’s been getting, it was only a matter of time before the bigger stages started to catch on. We already found Lahey on the lineup to Hangout Music Festival and last night she made her US television debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers. In the propulsive performance of her single “Every Day’s The Weekend,” Lahey showcased why so many are falling for her infectious songwriting. It’s hooky and immediate, while also managing to be insightful lyrically. That’s a rare and special blend, with songwriters often happy to just conquer one of those terrains.
Speaking of the song with Uproxx, Lahey noted the influence of Springsteen on her upbeat presentation of melancholia:
“I guess Springsteen does it quite a bit. Even a song like “Glory Days” is kind of depressing when you think about the story that he’s telling, [but] it’s got the whole baseball-y, ‘let’s go out to the ballgame’ kind of music going on, which is really lighthearted. Then when you actually listen to the story, and it’s like, ‘Oh man, he’s talking about some dude who’s obviously seriously depressed and whose life went totally downhill after being so young.’ So maybe just stuff like that. I like thinking about that sort of stuff, but I don’t know if I’m necessarily influenced by someone doing it. But, conceptually, I find it really interesting.”
Check out Alex Lahey’s US television debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers up top.
