Following up on her rapturously received debut single “Sleeping Alone,” Lily Monaghan now offers “On Hold,” an equally riveting preview of her first EP, Introspection, due out in early 2023. Like its predecessor, “On Hold” is a showcase not only for Lily’s stunning voice, but her unflinching skills at conveying lyrical heartbreak.
Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Lily has been building up to the release of Introspection by honing its songs in a manner that blurs the lines between folk, country, soul and pop. Working closely with producer Mark Maclure, with whom she was enrolled in MacEwan University’s music program, Lily experimented with several different musical approaches before finding the natural balance that brought out the most in her songwriting.
As “Sleeping Alone” demonstrated, that work has coalesced into Lily’s wise-beyond-her-years sound. “On Hold” takes it a step further with its slow-burning groove and bruising lines such as, “The bitter sweet taste of accepting your fate / Should be served with a side of lime / And welcome the sting that numbing the pain brings / Prepare to feel bad all the time.”
Lily says of the song, “‘On Hold’ was written during a time when I felt as if I was being placed on the back burner and being used as a backup plan in case something better would come along. The song is sort of like a conversation with myself, recalling the ways I was misused and the ways I mistrusted. All in all this is a song about acceptance: accepting the fact that I can’t change every situation, accepting that I can’t force somebody to choose me, and accepting that I need to let go and move forward.”
Listening to Lily Monaghan, it’s easy to spot the influences of strong contemporary female singer/songwriters, from Feist to Taylor Swift, but she also cites Gord Downie as a primary inspiration, along with the flare and mysticism of Stevie Nicks and Florence Welch. In all, her sound is a combination of nearly all the music that had an effect on her during her formative years.
“It wasn’t until recently that I realized that Roots and Folk-inspired music is what feeds my soul and speaks to me the loudest, and the songs on this project are a reflection of that,” she says. “I understand now that my versatility for other genres isn’t a weakness but a strength, and I intend to allow my knowledge for all styles of music to support me by bleeding into my writing and performing rather than setting me back by believing I must only choose one.”
With “Sleeping Alone” and now “On Hold,” Lily Monaghan is laying the first cornerstone in a career that is sure to evolve in ways like those of her heroes. Savor it for now, but there is much more to come.
