Alex Lahey’s pop-punk embodies a sort of confident defiance, with her lyrics peppered with funny-sad observations and all-too-real remarks. She made a sizable splash with her debut album I Love You Like A Brother, on which she sang about “family, relationships, and post-adolescent self-doubt inside bouncy bubblegum pop-punk songs.” Today Lahey is announcing the record’s follow-up, The Best Of Luck Club, with an anthemic self-love single titled “Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself.” The Best Of Luck Club is set for release on May 17 via Dead Oceans.
“Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself” is an homage to ambition. The track does the rare work of giving success the recognition it deserves, but it also serves as a flip of the bird to our productivity-obsessed, burnout-inducing culture. As the title states, Lahey believes in the power of slowing down and giving yourself some grace, and with the way she sings it – sternly and earnestly – it’s not hard to believe the same. In the middle of the song, Lahey serves a ripping saxophone solo interlude, showcasing her past studies of the instrument in university while adding even more of a spunky flair.
Lahey wrote The Best Of Luck Club during intensive sessions in Nashville. About the upcoming album, she said:
In Nashville I was really inspired by the dive bar scene there and the idea that at these dive bars there’s no pretentious energy. Whether you’ve had the best day of your life or the worst day of your life, you can just sit up at the bar and turn to the person next to you – who has no idea who you are – and have a chat. And the response that you generally get at the end of the conversation is, ‘Best of luck,’ so The Best Of Luck Club is that place.
You can watch the video for “Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself” above. The Best Of Luck Club is out May 17 via Dead Oceans.
