Liily - 'Sepulveda Basin'

Kick back to LA alt-rock band Liily’s moody new groove, ‘Sepulveda Basin’.

Last year Liily exploded onto the scene with their frenetic alt rock debut single, ‘Toro’, channeling an urgent vocal and huge walls of menacing guitar and furious drums, debuting a sound that sounds like the love child of Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys. The band followed up with ‘Sold’, trading in the brash instrumentation to instead gave more space for Liily to show off their lyrics and experiment with more playful and melodic dynamics without losing that bite that drew listeners in on their debut.

New single, ‘Sepulveda Basin’ sees the band retreat further from their bold arrival, seeing Liily embrace a moody, mainstream indie dance vibe. ‘Sepulveda Basin’ is a tight, laid-back indie dance groove, showcasing melodic guitar work and catchy drums and the track really shows off the best parts of the lead singer’s brooding and oddly soulful vocal. While the track is definitely the band’s strongest narrative-led song, depicting the vicious cycle of being stuck in a tumultuous relationship, the band kick back with a slick instrumental break in the second half of the song, still feeling gritty and keeping that edge while opening their appeal to listeners who may feel ‘Toro’ is a little too rich for their blood.

With influences spanning from Hard Rock to more accessible indie rock, it’s hard to tell where Liily are going to go next with their sound. But, it works in the band’s favour that they can tap into a variety of influences on the rock spectrum and they are very much deserving of the buzz they are creating.

Words of Karla Harris