“I DON’T THINK THE CONCEPT HAS REALLY HIT ME YET, THAT THERE ARE FANS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD” AUSSIE POP STAR ‘LYRIC’ CHATS COMING TO THE UK FOR THE FIRST TIME
“Whether that’s 100 people, 1000 people or 10000 people, the people who like your music will find it if you’re having fun with the content you make.”
INTERVIEW – LYRIC by Anne Kelly
Australia’s next pop sensation, Lyric, has had a sensational past 12 months. From writing songs in her bedroom to sharing them on TikTok, the rising talent now boasts over 50K followers and 1.2million likes on that platform alone. Garnering support of major platforms like triple j and Rolling Stone, Lyric has already shared the stage with fellow pop girly icons such as Griff, Angie McMahon, Beth McCarthy and Mallrat. For fans of artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Alessi Rose, Nieve Ella, and Nell Mescal, this Sydney based artist has an unwavering determination to take on the world. Her devoted fanbase sold out her Australian debut tour within just 24 hours, and now Lyric is set for her first ever tour outside of her homeland as she heads to the UK and Ireland this July. With London’s Lower Third already SOLD OUT with Manchester’s Deaf Institute (venue upgrade) about to follow suit, the short tour will also stop in Glasgow after opening in Dublin.
Like her idols who paved the path before, there’s only a matter of time before this girl blows up, so when the opportunity to chat to Lyric herself, we obviously jumped at the chance.
Congratulations on your first ever UK tour!
“Thank you!” blushes 21 year old Lyric from her studio in Sydney, a whole 9 hours ahead of us in the UK. “This is actually my first time ever actually playing any shows overseas, I’ve only ever played shows in Australia before. I have been to the UK before, it was a couple of years ago now in 2023, but that was just as a holiday so I’m really excited to get over and actually play. I don’t think the concept has really hit me yet, that there are fans on the other side of the world, it’s very overwhelming to think that and I don’t think it’ll feel real until I’m actually there and I’m meeting the fans.”
For those who don’t know Lyric yet, what has your journey been like?
“I started writing when i was really, really young, probably around the age of 8. I sort of wrote lots of the songs throughout school, but I never really did anything with it until the very end of high school when I was in about the twelfth grade. Then I started teaching myself how to produce music and that’s when I realised that this is what I want to do. That’s when I started producing my own songs, putting them out, posting about them on the internet. To begin with I definitely posted a lot on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but it was probably TikTok where I found a lot of my following. That app is just so awesome for people discovering music. So yeah, it took me awhile to come around to actually sharing my music with the world, but I got there in the end.”
Who would you say your biggest musical influences are?
“My biggest influence is probably Finneas, which is Billy Eilish’s brother who also produces all of her music. I definitely learnt so much about production from them. But I’m really just inspired by like a lot of the big female pop acts at the moment, I love Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan and Gracie Abrams and I find the sort of artists that I love are usually the ones that my music ends up sounding like. I think I fit that realm of like female pop, which is just so awesome. It’s had such a big year as well, it’s been incredible.
I grew up watching people like Taylor Swift, she was my first ever concert and I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for her. I feel like I’m following the footsteps of females being able to write all of their own songs and things like that which is just an incredible feeling. I just love whenever anyone tells me that my music has inspired them to start writing, that’s like usually the best compliments I can get.”
Last month, Lyric released her latest single ‘Make A Move’. Probably her most upbeat track to date, Lyric shares how the song came about.
What can you tell us about ‘Make A Move’?
“So that one was actually a bit inspired by Chappell Roan. I have a lot of of sad songs in my repertoire, I have some happy too but it’s more sad ones. On my previous tour I covered her song ‘Red Wine Supernova’ and I felt that song is super confident and super self empowering and I didn’t really have a song like that. But when I covered that on tour I felt really, really good so I wanted my own song that makes both me and the crowd feel uplifted. I think its turned out really well because I played that song before it came out at one of my last shows and I felt like that [uplifted] again on stage, I felt like I felt when I was singing that Chappell Roan song – it felt confident and fun.”
Do you think future releases will see more of an upbeat side to Lyric?
“I would say so. I’ve definitely been producing a few more like rockier type songs. I’ll still always have my sad girly pop songs of course, but I am definitely producing a lot more a pop-rock stuff which I’m excited to put out throughout the rest of the year.”
Can we expect more new music soon?
“I’ve literally been like locked in a studio for the past three weeks, just working on getting as much music done as possible before I leave for the UK, so that when I get back I’ll have heaps to release the rest of the year. There will definitely be more to come, I have been working like a maniac trying to get it all finished.”
Can UK fans expected a sneak peek of these new tracks on the tour?
“I’m definitely going to be playing some unreleased songs on the UK tour, they will be able to hear some of the new ones first, which is very exciting.”
There’s a constant debate on the impact social media, in particular TikTok, on artists. Often criticised for prioritising content over firm talent, social media pressures have turned content creation into a full time job for some musicians. However, it can also provide a wave of opportunity for aspiring artists who may not have had the same platform to reach their audience, and Lyric admits that she is one of them. Without it, she wouldn’t be playing sold out shows on the other side of the world this summer.
Lyric: “It can definitely be tricky, because while you can reach so many people it also means that there are lots of people trying to do the same thing as you. There’s a lot of competition on the app, so many artists who wanna put out music using TikTok and sometimes that can feel a bit daunting. But I think I stopped putting too much pressure on myself really and just have fun with making content and not really caring about what’s gonna happen to it. It will find the right people and the right people will be drawn to it. Whether that’s 100 people, 1000 people or 10000 people, the people who like your music will find it if you’re having fun with the content you make. I think once I relaxed, chilled out a bit and started having fun with making content is when it started performing a lot better.”
This July, Lyric will make her international debut, performing her first ever shows outside of Australia in the UK and Ireland. With London already sold out and the rest if the dates set to follow suit, we asked Lyric how she was feeling about ‘going global’.
Lyric: “It’s crazy, London sold out super superfast and we just found out today that the Manchester date is about to sell out as well, which is very exciting. It’s crazy, I definitely wasn’t expecting there to be so much demand, it’s very very cool especially how quickly that London one sold out. But I think that these shows are going to be incredible no matter what, because it really doesn’t matter what the size of the room is, even if you have like 50 fans in a room who all care about the songs enough then it it feels massive.
I’ve never been to Glasgow or Manchester before so I’m really excited for those. I can’t to explore new cities and then go back to London and Dublin as I have been to those before on my travels over there, but i just i love them so much. London’s like one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to and then we get into Dublin a bit early so we’re gonna go do some sight seeing and see some more of Ireland.”
What can the lucky fans who have bagged tickets to the dates already expect from the shows?
“There will definitely be a lot of my own material in there. Since I’ve never been there before I’ll be playing songs from the recent EP and then also throwing some old ones as well that I know the fans usually love. There will definitely be a couple of unreleased ones plus a couple covers as well. I love to throw in a couple covers because that is super fun for me to get the play different artists songs. So it’ll be like the usual vibe of my shows with the set list, we’ve still we’ve still to 100% lock it in, but that’s where it’s sitting at. There will definitely could be a bit of Chappell Roan in there, I love performing her songs.”
After having such a massive year, what is on the cards for Lyric in the next 12 months?
“Before I leave for the UK I’ve got a festival in Sydney actually (Starburst Festival), it’s my first time headlining a festival which is super, super cool. We’re also planning a bunch of other shows at the moment in Australia for when i get back. Hopefully next year I would love to be able to get back over to the UK again and also go to the US. The US is somewhere I’ve always wanted to go to and i’ve just had them [US fans] begging for ages as well, so that’s a big goal for next year.”
Finally, who would be your dream collaboration right now?
“Ooh ahh” gushes Lyric smiling. “Actually Renee Rapp has just put out a new song, I love her! I’ve been listening to that for a while but I think it would be really cool, I think that would be be a very good collaboration at the moment – she’s awesome!”
We’re manifesting for a Renee Rapp x Lyric collaboration one day, but for now we look forward to welcoming this rising star to our stages in July. Remaining tickets for the tour can be purchased HERE!
