"Now, my objective is to write really great songs that really speak to people and can be translated into different parts of people’s lives or experiences that they’ve had, while also giving a part of myself over to the listener".
Alex Lahey, DIY Mag
Melbourne singer-songwriter Alex Lahey's endearing lyricism - which marries everyday mundanities with life's more profound realizations with whimsy, charm and wit - will inevitably earn her comparisons to compatriot Courtney Barnett. Lahey, who recently released her debut EP B-Grade University (2016), also traffics in the anxieties, uncertainties, apathies and intensities of young adulthood - i.e. "being in your early 20s and just figuring shit out" - although her overall outlook is decidedly poppier, sunnier and more upbeat than Barnett's.
"Wes Anderson" - a song inspired by a former lover who enjoyed the director's movies - is a great example of Lahey's ability to ground love's ecstatic heights in the mind-numbing routines of everyday life. Drawing from guitar pop, indie rock, emo and new wave, the song builds up a tapestry of emotion that soars into a jubilant, catchy and un-ironic ode to young love:
'I stayed in the showerTo avoid doing some useful shitMy fingers went wrinklyAnd my hair had had enough of it
I slept in this morning'Cause your bed is so much better than mineYou had left for uniSo I changed my phone's alarm time
You're on my mindAnd you're all mineYou're the best night's sleep I've ever hadI think you'll findIf we rewindThat trouble never finds a place to landEvery day with you is my lucky day
We went to the movies'Cause I know you like Wes AndersonYou held my hand the whole timeAnd, no joke, you have the softest skin
Take it day by dayYou can be the one to drive me homeSitting in your carTelling stories in a no standing zone'
Lyrics: AlexLahey.com.au
