“I can imagine Prince coming up with this song, for his latest female protégé, and it turning out more or less like it has in this beautiful version. The fact that Lily has previously been compared to Sinead O’Connor, and specifically for the Prince-penned masterpiece ‘Nothing Compares To U’, makes the analogy even more apt”
“The lyrics capture it perfectly, especially with Lily delivering them from that same tender spot in her”
It’s the guitar lick that does it. Just at the start of ‘My Heart, Again’, a bittersweet guitar break catapulted me straight back to an unexpected evening and its repercussions. The lyrics capture it perfectly, especially with Lily delivering them from that same tender spot in her, where the details might not include an interview and a hotel room but the feelings are much the same.
I can imagine Prince coming up with the song, for his latest female protégé, and it turning out more or less like it has in this beautiful version. The fact Lily has previously been compared to Sinead O’Connor, and specifically for the Prince-penned masterpiece ‘Nothing Compares To U’, makes the analogy even more apt. With ‘My Heart, Again’ we have writer Billie Reid to thank for conveying the sentiments that enable Lily to deliver a vocal that goes deep and rings true. As Billie says, in text echoing his purple majesty “… i was poet way b4 songz, MY WORDZ, I LIVED them … i write from heart when spirit moves me.”
Lily finds her way into those words to deliver them in a way that sounds like truth. We’ve all got our version of that story. And to some extent, nothing new there. This is the core of good songwriting – to connect with someone you’ve never met, let the expression of your emotions bring forth memories of experiences where the listener felt the same.
Some doors once closed are best left that way. Reality for she and I was that there was no reconnection. There was a could’ve been, and it’s in that space of what might be that songs like ‘My Heart, Again’ have their power. God knows, there are times we’re all sucked into the realm of second chances and if only. And that’s what gives ‘My Heart, Again’ its timeless quality. As writers will come up with songs and singers will sing them and people like you and I will listen to them, and life goes on. But always with that what if which ‘My Heart, Again’ captures with uncanny precision.
Charlie Reynolds
“Australian singer Lily inhabits songs she chooses with unshowy conviction”
It all starts with jazz. Lily took to piano lessons as a child growing up, and it was jazz rather than classical music which motivated her to push her skills. That wasn’t easy given how much she moved around as a kid, Mum more or less Italian and Dad’s clan scattered across Asia and Europe. Most teens rebel with parents around staying-out times and unsuitable partners. For Lily it was the hours she devoted daily listening to the sounds of George Duke, Nina Simone, and Prince.
You can hear every step of her path in Lily’s singing. Right lovers and right now ones, wrong decisions and being wronged, moves forward and time out, hurt and heart. Lily knows more of the classic songbook than she’d like to admit outside the company of fellow geeks, from Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald through to Debbie Harry. And that background allied with innate taste means she inhabits songs she chooses with unshowy conviction.
And, Lily’s got the mastery and understanding of music history for those moments to be definitive, knowing that for the vocals at least of the work she’s doing, the buck stops with her. And for Lily herself the songs she’s developing now – most of all the ones she’s writing – are just the start.
“Australian songbird Lily can paint a thousand pictures with a simple croon”
Lily is an Australian singer-songwriter based in Fremantle, Australia. She was introduced to the world through her ‘Dreamer’ EP on which she performs beautiful love songs penned by her collaborative partner Billie Reid. More recently she has stepped out on her own with her single ‘Ariel’, to expose the world to her raw and evocative songwriting, alongside her gorgeous vocal talent.
Easy listening is a tagline that’s often attached to artists of a sombre character, and songwriters who pen democratic pieces of love and loss. These musicians selflessly offer their material for listeners to adopt the world over. Their lyrics are captivating beasts that embody the fragile and complicated nature of society and, in particular, the way in which we engage with one another. Their words are usually pivotal to their music, not just because of their demanding nature, but because of the way they’re delivered – carefully, with control, but also with ample feeling. The description of “easy” does little to reflect the soulful depths of these purveyors of heart. In-fact, it can corrupt the representation.
A standout aspect of Lily’s career to date is undoubtedly her vocal. The 29-year-old’s voice contains wisdom well beyond her years, calling out to the depths of time to expose an enduring and unforgettable quality. It’s the kind of soulful power that her peers crave and her seniors strive to get back. Lily can paint a thousand pictures with a simple croon, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
* Somewhere in the embers of last century, the work of songwriter, poet, shaman Billie Reid started to exert a pull on other independent-minded Australian talents. Stories can, and maybe will, be read about those adventures. At this point, the vessel for that work has, since 2020, been our music production biz Soundscape Media.
Billie Reid’s talents are the molten core of what we do. To those who’ve come across him, Billie’s an irascible generational talent. And we want the number of those who share that impression to grow.
Sharing the load, and bringing a canny female take on Billie’s words, is versatile Fremantle-based singer and classy piano player Lily – who’s also writing impressive material of her own.
Our artist collaboration list also includes in-house stormcrow Quinlan Porteous – a man who’s weathered years of industry bs and continues to find redemption in music regardless. As do we all.
Let’s hear it too for Wayne A Halifax, the man whose vibe Chris Isaak channelled. And never mind which came first – sometimes those who follow get it right, and Wayne has the advantage of Billie’s lyrics. As does Alfredo Malabello, cursed by Universal Music Australia describing him as the country’s “Voice of Romance”. He’s more content, and rightly, with the tag “Australia’s Leonard Cohen”.
Soundscape sounds dip in and out of alt-rock, Americana, and smart pop. Our production styles range from roots-raw to Netflix-friendly rock with splashes and squeals of electronica. We can do polished, but we’re a fan of loose edges and first take magic too. And we look forward to hearing from you – about what we’ve done, what we’re doing now, and what we could perhaps do together. Soundscape Media.
