Chicago-based artist Lala Lala shares new single & video "Utopia Planet" from new album ‘I Want The Door To Open’ out this Friday on Hardly Art! UK & European live dates early 2022.
Lala Lala, the project of Chicago-based musician Lillie West, will release her new album, 'I Want The Door To Open', this Friday, October 8th, on Hardly Art. Today, she presents a mesmerising new video, for new single and album closer, “Utopia Planet.” Amorphous synth elevates West’s surging voice and later, saxophone by Sen Morimoto blooms as a recording of West’s grandmother unfurls across the track. It is the fitting end to the inner labyrinth that West maps on 'I Want The Door To Open', a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may never open; but it is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the closest thing to total freedom, total possibility, and total acceptance available to us. The video, created by Meggie van Zwieten, is in step with the digital aesthetic presented on the album cover.
“‘Utopia Planet’ was born because my friend Kara Jackson and I challenged each other to write a song about Utopia,”
says West.
“I tried to imagine a great expanse, abundance, an open door. It's an invitation to surrender. I used a recording of my grandmother to take you further into another world.”
Following 2018’s acclaimed 'The Lamb', West wanted to make something sonically bigger and thematically more outward-looking than anything she’d done before; a record that would be less a straightforward documentation of her own personal struggles and more like a poem or a puzzle box, with sonic and lyrical clues that would allow the listener to, as the title says, open the door to the greater meaning of those struggles. 'I Want The Door To Open' is a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may never open; but it is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the next closest thing, as expressed with lead single “DIVER”.It’s a bold exploration of persona and presence from an artist questioning how to be herself fully in a world where the self is in constant negotiation.
West co-produced 'I Want The Door To Open' with Yoni Wolf of WHY?. It features contributions from Adam Schatz, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, poet Kara Jackson, OHMME, Sen Morimoto, Christian Lee Hutson, Kaina Castillo, Meg Duffy, Will Miller, Gia Margaret, Josiah Wolf, and former tourmate Ben Gibbard.
Lala Lala will celebrate the release of 'I Want The Door To Open' with a string of shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn. Following, she’ll head to Europe and the UK, before bringing back her live show stateside next spring. Tickets for new dates are on sale this Friday, August 13th.
Photo by Miwah Lee
Lala Lala live dates:
Oct 8 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall w/ Unannounced Special Guest & Kara Jackson
Oct 13 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room w/ Fashion Club
Oct 20 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Salt Cathedral & Crosslegged
Jan 27 - Paradiso Noord – Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jan 28 - Vera – Groningen, Netherlands
Jan 29 - Cactus @ Villa Bota – Brugge, Belgium
Jan 30 - Botanique (Rotonde) – Brussels, Belgium
Feb 01 - Bumann & SOHN – Köln, Germany
Feb 02 - Kantine am Berghain – Berlin, Germany
Feb 03 - Molotow – Hamburg, Germany
Feb 05 - Oceanen – Göteborg, Sweden
Feb 06 - Internasjonalen – Oslo, Norway
Feb 07 - Hus 7 – Stockholm, Sweden
Feb 08 - Plan B – Malmö, Sweden
Feb 09 - Vega @ Ideal Bar – Copenhagen, Denmark
Feb 11 - Underdogs’ – Prague, Czech Republic
Feb 12 - Club Manufaktur – Schorndorf, Germany
Feb 13 - Swamp - Freiburg, Germany
Feb 14 - L’Amalgame – Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
Feb 16 - Rote Fabrik – Zürich, Switzerland
Feb 17 - Festival Hors-Pistes - Annecy, FR
Feb 18 - Aérogare – Metz, France
Feb 19 - l'Aéronef – Lille, France
Feb 20 - The Green Door Store – Brighton, United Kingdom
Feb 21 - Moth Club – London, United Kingdom
Feb 23 - Hyde Park Book Club – Leeds, United Kingdom
Feb 24 - Nice N Sleazy - Glasgow, United Kingdom
Feb 25 - YES - Manchester, United Kingdom
Feb 26 - Strange Brew – Bristol, United Kingdom
Feb 28 - La Boule Noire – Paris, France
Mar 12 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
Mar 14 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
Mar 15 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
Wed Mar. 16 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
Mar 18 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile (Second Stage)
Mar 19 - Vancouver, BC - Fox Cabaret
Mar 20 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
Mar 22 - Oakland, CA - Starline Social Club
Mar 25 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
Mar 26 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
Mar 27 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar
Mar 28 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
Mar 30 - Austin, TX - The Parish
Mar 31 - Fort Worth, TX - Tulips
Apr 2 - Indianapolis, IN - HI-FI
Apr 3 - Milwaukee, WI - Colectivo Coffee
Apr 13 - Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel
Apr 14 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
Apr 15 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
Apr 16 - Urbana, IL - Rose Bowl Tavern
Apr 17 - Nashville, TN - High Watt
Apr 19 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5
Apr 20 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
Apr 22 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry
Apr 23 - Woodstock, NY - Colony
Apr 24 @ Washington, DC - Black Cat
Apr 27 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Apr 28 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
Apr 29 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison
Apr 30 - Hamtramck, MI - Outer Limits Lounge