Album Review: Lily Konigsberg – Lily We Need To Talk Now

Brooklyn-based artist, Lily Konigsberg from the band Palberta has released her debut album, Lily We Need To Talk Now via Wharf Cat Records. The eleven-track collection is her first proper full length, following her anthology of EPs and unreleased tracks, The Best of Lily Konigsberg Right Now, released this year.

The childlike opening of ‘Beauty’ with its simply piano melodies that appear chunky at first but really grab you as an intro to the album before the Morissette acoustic and Konigsberg sweet sweet vocals enter on ‘Sweat Forever’. A gorgeous dreamy track of honesty and love. The track sets the scene for the album musically with the thumping bass and light acoustic. A disco vibe arrives with next track ‘Alone’ which leads into to a more spaced out affair with ‘Don’t Be Lazy With Me’. the drawn out vocals matches the whole song with the dreamy bliss filled vibe.

‘That’s The Way I Like It’ electrifies things up with the chord heavy riffing and the bedroom sounding vocals, but let us be honest that is what makes you fall in love with Konigsberg. Her voice can soften the harshest of riffs which is what ‘Proud Home’ is proof of. Written as an answer to Stacy’s Mom which Lilys says is a nod to Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne who sadly passed at the start of this Covid nightmare. The thrashy punk of ‘Bad Boy’ also sees her vocals stealing the show. The track vibrates with fuzz driven guitar but its those gorgeous vocals that seduce you.

‘Hark’ has a darker mood with some heavy bass and horn blasts. The stop start rhythm from the drums and bass give the track a disjointed feel.  It was originally written for her quarantine project with Palberta bandmate Ani Ivry-Block, Forever. “I hate the fact that I belong to something that needs my help or else it will die,” she sings gracefully about her unfinished tunes, before joking, “You can look, but don’t touch / That part’s a mess / Leave it to me,”

‘Roses, Again’ is a re-recorded Lily track done at the request of her current live band. With a flourish of piano and a couple of drum stick clicks the track rolls over you as Konigsberg has a slight sneer in her voice. “They’re not all about romantic relationships, but they are about relationships,” she says. “And all these little things that people don’t necessarily talk about, like loving someone but taking them for granted. And wondering why we can’t just be happy alone.”

Goodbye is an instrumental track starting with saturated fun fare organ sounds and fading out on romantic horns. Its like an island amongst the punk. ‘True’ bursts out the speakers with honey dipped guitar and vocals. “the feeling that you can’t live without someone—but you can.” She compares the end of a relationship to a death. “You can’t imagine someone in your life not being there, and then they’re not there. And sometimes you’re happy and laughing, and sometimes you’re mourning. But life does go on.” 

Despite the musical flourishes on piano and organ on some of the track its the pop punk sensibility that wins out overall. You can’t help but love Konigsberg sweet vocals regardless of what she sings about. She makes a broken heart sound like a bunch of flowers.  But even so the lyrics aren’t happy all of the time. “There’s a lot of sadness or strangeness in them,” she says. “This album is clearly about breaking up with somebody that I love. But, in all of my music, there’s humor. I don’t take myself too seriously.” 

An album from a songwriter who can’t stop writing songs. This a record Konigsberg has been slowly chipping away at since 2016. Revising and re-recording the songs over the years; by her estimation, there have been 12 different versions. From taking influences form everyday problems of love and life and even songwriting itself. This is a gorgeous album of pop punk that is a must for fans of music.

Check out the track ‘Thats The Way I like It’, below:

Find out more via Konigsberg’s Bandcamp 

Purchase the album here