After a six-year break, LYLO has returned! Much to the delight of their fans. The Scottish trio’s upcoming album, Thoughts of Never, promises to showcase their growth, blending vulnerability with cinematic pop sensibilities. With a sound that welcomes both longtime supporters and newcomers, LYLO’s comeback is eagerly anticipated.
Their latest single, “Hush” featuring Esmé Dee from The Orielles, offers a glimpse into the album’s fusion of downbeat pop-club, Balearic beats, and soul grooves. The song explores the yearning for connection while grappling with anxiety and inner conflicts. Directed by BAFTA nominee Daniel Cook and produced by Marcy Paterson, the accompanying video adds depth to the song’s narrative, delving into themes of anxiety and escapism.
Today, LYLO releases their second single off of Thoughts of Never, “If The Light Is On”. We hear from the trio all about their hiatus, their return, and their exciting future endeavours.
Read the exclusive interview below…
Hi LYLO! How does it feel to be returning after a 6 year hiatus?
Hello Wonderland. It feels so great to be releasing music again. It all feels very real – we got the test pressings for the record through the other day and it really felt like a time stamp for us which was pretty special. The hiatus wasn’t particularly planned and we weren’t writing music the whole time. Lots of music came and went for us in that time but the collection of songs that make up Thoughts of Never stuck with us. So I guess it took as long as it did for us to accept and believe in what we were releasing.
What have you all been up to during your hiatus?
A lot of changes were going on for us in our lives and at points we were writing separately between Glasgow, Berlin and London. We worked on a lot of music without any intention of releasing it – learning to love the process again. There were various projects going on for us all including two tours with Cassandra Jenkins as her backing band. We learned a lot from that time about managing our expectations and how to enjoy releasing music into the ether.
Congratulations on the new album, Thoughts of Never! Can you expand on the inspiration behind it?
Thank you. We had 3 or 4 songs that had been around for a while that definitely inspired the feel of the record and encouraged us to write and develop it into an album. In the writing process we would have listening parties in our flat in Glasgow where we would sit and play back whatever we had been working on over muted films. Having a cinematic sound was a big intentional inspiration. We were trying to achieve a stillness in the chaos of a city.
What are some of the topics explored in Thoughts of Never?
A lot of the topics and themes developed in the process. The distance made us feel out of sync and disconnected from each other at points and we were all soundtracking that feeling and finding space to be vulnerable. In turn, the process probably defined the main theme, collaborating with friends and harnessing that feeling of connection.
How does the sound and/or themes differ from your previous work?
It’s more sincere than anything we’ve worked on before. Since our last release we had spent two years touring and playing regular late night slots, which we felt moulded us into the role of playing more dance oriented sets. Whenever we tried to translate that sound in the studio, it didn’t really sit right with us. We had a lot of fun doing all that but the process of this record and the live shows we have played since have felt a lot more cathartic than before.
Cassandra Jenkins, Gerard Black and Esmé Dee Hand-Halford feature in your new album. What was this experience like, collaborating with fellow artist friends?
It was great. We are fans of them all and were so lucky to have them on board. We’ve known Gerard for years, he lived very near us while we were recording the album so we would go over and play it to him and ask his opinion. He sang on some songs there and then. He gave the songs some magic. With Cassandra and Esme, we toured with them both in different capacities and learned a lot from those experiences so it was a full circle moment.
How do you incorporate spoken word into the new album? What was the motive behind this artistic decision?
That was our friend and poet Naya (alore,). We had an instrumental that we really wanted to be the transitional track that gelled the two sides of the record together and to capture that stillness. We were listening to a lot of songs that used spoken word to achieve this kind of mundane romance like “Pictures of Departure” by Tony Hymas. We sent our instrumental to Naya and it came back with everything we wanted and more – It turned out to be one of our favourite songs on the album.
What is your opinion of the current music industry? Particularly after your hiatus, how have you seen things change?
It’s a tough one. I go through phases of hopelessness and arguably, deluded optimism but I think it’s all about carving your own path and managing expectations. It feels refreshing to be releasing something that we believe is honest and true to us after so long, because whatever happens to it we will still believe in it. Facing up to the reality of your work sitting in the vast ether of the music world is of course daunting so having a belief in it is a good place to start. I like to think our songs would make as much sense in an empty room and a full room, so if the algorithm fails us, there’s always that.
What else do you wish to experiment with musically within your careers?
It’s always been a dream of ours to work on a film soundtrack. We have often discussed various ideas so hopefully that could materialise one day. Anything in that vain really – collaboration has been so rewarding to us so we would happily write music for most things if our ideas and concepts aligned. Our ears are always open.
Can you share any more exciting aspirations or future projects in the pipeline?
It’s very early days but our follow up to Thoughts Of Never is all written and we have made a start on recording it. It seems there won’t be 6 years between any release in the future. Many more releases and shows to come.