Lala Lala

A deeply introspective and noisy Chicago-based indie rock project led by singer/songwriter Lillie West, Lala Lala rose from playing basements in the underground D.I.Y. scene to signing with Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art for their 2018 sophomore album, The Lamb. Bolder surfaces emerged on the Yoni Wolf-co-produced I Want the Door to Open in 2021.
Born in London but raised during her teenage years in Los Angeles, West eventually headed to Chicago, where she was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She became ingrained in the city’s D.I.Y. music community and formed Lala Lala in 2015, using her songs as a means of processing her experiences and emotions. Harsh, raw, and decidedly lo-fi, the band’s self-released 2016 debut, Sleepyhead, was also imbued with a certain tenderness and vulnerability thanks to West’s confessional lyrical style. Following a break-in at her Chicago apartment and the death of a close friend, she entered a difficult phase during which she became sober and retreated into her songwriting. After landing a deal with Hardly Art, Lala Lala returned to the studio to record West’s increasingly inward-gazing songs, emerging with The Lamb in 2018. The album was acclaimed by critics and adored by fans, and West toured relentlessly. The next year, Hardly Art gave Sleepyhead a proper reissue treatment, releasing the album on vinyl for the first time and getting West’s earlier material into the hands of new fans.
When Lala Lala returned with another full-length in 2021, it was with a sonically brighter, more philosophical set partly inspired by the Myth of Sisyphus. Produced with Yoni Wolf of Why?, I Want the Door to Open featured guests such as Ohmme and Landlady’s Adam Schatz as well as a duet with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. ~ Timothy Monger