lilo - Sleep Country (2022)

The emerging duo of lilo release their debut EP, Sleep Country via Practise Music. On their winsome new song, Beach (Real Love), lilo have crafted a warm, elegant and profoundly enjoyable slice of earnest folk-rock.

The band explain: “Beach (Real Love) explores the different ways that love can manifest in our lives; it’s about how, often, it’s in friendship that we encounter love in its most authentic and enduring form. When it came to production, this was one of those rare songs where everything just seemed to fall into place. From the first time we played it to producer Joseph Futak, he knew the direction we should take it in, and sonically it has felt quite fundamental in establishing our harmony-led folk-pop sound.”

Though London-based duo lilo have only recently emerged, theirs is a bond that runs a decade deep. Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon met at school in Winchester aged 11, and from that day forward have forged an unshakeable creative bond with their gossamer harmonies and finely-spun acoustic arrangements.

Both previous singles ‘Scarecrow’ and ‘Change’ are crystallised moments of calm and contemplation with vocals that are grounded and confessional alone, but together they soar. Their music gives the magical sense that you’re on the inside, witnessing friends coming of age and discovering the world for the first time.

It’s a sound that calls to mind the ethereality of Laura Marling, but that is only the first glimpse of the versatility of lilo’s sound, their new material is set to break new ground in the UK indie-folk landscape. They hold the promise of a more full-bodied, band-driven direction, weaving elements of slow-core and offbeat country-pop refractions.

lilo began recording their debut EP Sleep Country with close friend and collaborator Joseph Futak in August 2020. Over the five tracks that make up the EP, Christie and Helen explore new perspectives on love and friendship often through the frame of loss. Despite this, the tone remains distinctly hopeful and chooses to treasure the small things in the face of larger sadness.

lilo weave intimacy into the fabric of their music; through collaboration they translate friendship into sound.