Lala Lala, project of Chicago-based musician Lillie West, unveils a new single/video, “Color of the Pool,” from her forthcoming album, I Want The Door To Open, out October 8th on Hardly Art. In conjunction, she announces a North American tour. Throughout the album, West is fascinated with the idea of avatars: how we present ourselves to the world versus how other people see us versus who we really are when we’re alone, and how those images can change over time. “How can anyone else know who you are? How can you know who anyone else is,” asks West. It’s a question she poses with “Color of the Pool,” a song about wanting to embody the characteristics of something pure and uncatchable, like a flame, that features stacks of wigged-out saxophone from Adam Schatz (Landlady). In the music video, produced by Weird Life Films, West sits atop a motorcycle and rides through artificial projections of Chicago streets. The flashing fluorescent cityscape envelopes West, before she takes to the highway and disappears into the night’s traffic, eliminating any distinction between simulation and experience.
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 at 10am local time.
Lala Lala Tour Dates
Fri. Oct. 8 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Wed. Oct. 13 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room ^
Wed. Oct. 20 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg!
Thu. Jan. 27, 2022 - Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso Noord
Fri. Jan. 28, 2022 - Groningen, NE @ Vera
Sat. Jan. 29, 2022 - Brugge, BE @ Cactus at Villa Bota
Sun. Jan. 30, 2022 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique (Rotonde)
Tue. Feb. 1, 2022 - Köln, DE @ Baumann & SOHN
Wed. Feb. 2, 2022 - Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain
Thu. Feb. 3, 2022 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Sat. Feb. 5, 2022 - Göteborg, SE @ Oceanen
Sun. Feb. 6, 2022 - Oslo, NO @ Internasjonalen
Mon. Feb. 7, 2022 - Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7
Tue. Feb. 8, 2022 - Malmö, SE @ Plan B
Wed. Feb. 9, 2022 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega at Ideal Bar
Fri. Feb. 11, 2022 - Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’
Sat. Feb. 12, 2022 - Schorndorf, DE @ Club Manufaktur
Sun. Feb. 13, 2022 - Freiburg, DE @ Swamp
Mon. Feb. 14, 2022 - Yverdon-les-Bains, CH @ L’Amalgame
Wed. Feb. 16, 2022 - Zürich, CH @ Rote Fabrik
Thu. Feb. 17, 2022 - Annecy, FR @ Festival Hors-Pistes
Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 - Metz, FR @ Aérogare
Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 - Lille, FR @ l’Aéronef
Sun. Feb. 20, 2022 - Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store
Mon. Feb. 21, 2022 - London, UK @ Moth Club
Wed. Feb. 23, 2022 - Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
Thu. Feb. 24, 2022 - Glasgow, UK @ Nice N Sleazy
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 - Manchester, UK @ YES
Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
Mon. Feb. 28, 2022 - Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire
Sat. Mar. 12 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Mon. Mar. 14 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Tue. Mar. 15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Wed. Mar. 16 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Fri. Mar. 18 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile (Second Stage)
Sat. Mar. 19 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
Sun. Mar. 20 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Tue. Mar. 22 - Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
Fri. Mar. 25 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Sat. Mar. 26 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Sun. Mar. 27 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Mon. Mar. 28 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
Wed. Mar. 30 - Austin, TX @ The Parish
Thu. Mar. 31 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Co.
Sat. Apr. 2 - Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI
Sun. Apr. 3 - Milwaukee, WI @ Colectivo Coffee
Wed. Apr. 13 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Thu. Apr. 14 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
Fri. Apr. 15 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
Sat. Apr. 16 - Urbana, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern
Sun. Apr. 17 - Nashville, TN @ High Watt
Tue. Apr. 19 - Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
Wed. Apr. 20 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
Fri. Apr. 22 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
Sat. Apr. 23 - Woodstock, NY @ Colony
Sun. Apr. 24 @ Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Wed. Apr. 27 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Apr. 28 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Fri. Apr. 29 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Sat. Apr. 30 - Hamtramck, MI @ Outer Limits Lounge
* = w/ Unannounced Special Guest & Kara Jackson
^ = Cryogeyser & Fashion Club
! = Salt Cathedral & Crosslegged