Independent alt-pop duo Lilac Fall have released their stunning new track 'Saturday's Dream'.
The track tells a story of infatuation and insecurity. With its soaring blend of dreamy synth textures, anthemic choruses, a golden saxophone solo and key change, reminiscent of something straight out of a John Hughes 80s movie. This track was built for screaming at the top of your lungs in your car.
We had the chance to speak with the duo as part of our Get To Know series...
Introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about the band! "Hey! We’re Lilac Fall, an alternative pop duo consisting of twin brothers Kim Allen Junior (me currently typing this, I play drums and sing) and Alfie Allen (sitting to my right drinking some tea, plays guitar and sings)! We write, record and produce our music from a spare room at home, which we’ve turned into our home studio!"
When did you start making music together? "We first started making music together when we formed our first band at school in year 7 called ‘Open For Business’. We were sort of writing songs which blurred the lines between Oasis, Blur and Coldplay mostly. A combo of artists you may not expect to be merged together considering their documented public rivalries, but hey, it worked for us at the time… (well kind of at least)."
Is there a specific reason or story behind the band name? "Well, during sixth form, we were trying to come up with a band name as we needed one for one of our school variety shows. Alfie wanted to dye his hair lilac that year, and said “I might go Lilac in the summer” which then evolved into lilac in the autumn, which then was cut down to Lilac Fall! However, recently it came to our attention, that our birth flower is an aster which can blossom into a lilac colour, and as we’re September babies, 'Lilac Fall' seems coincidently perfect for us!"
Where are you from and what’s your favourite thing about it?
"We’re from south east Milton Keynes and currently live in a village called Woburn Sands. Besides our many roundabouts, dual carriage ways and the robots that deliver food, the great thing about living here, is within a few miles one way you can be in complete countryside surrounded by open fields and forests, yet a few miles the other way, be in the heart of the city. It’s almost as if you feel out of the loop looking in, whilst still having access. Both the city and the suburbs grow so quickly here, feels very ‘The Sims’ like at times!"
Who are the biggest inspirations musically? "Growing up in a very musical household, with our Mum being a professional Latin Ballroom dancer and our Dad being a musician himself, we were surrounded by all kinds of music and now frequently find ourselves being inspired by so many different things. We’ve never been people to idolise individual artists, as we listen to and are inspired by such a wide cross section of artists and influences. If we hear something we really enjoy and relate to it, we find that inspiring, no matter who the artist is. We’re more influenced by pieces of art and compositions more so than a particular artist themselves. Our first concert we ever attended was McFly at Wembley Arena, so we’d have to say McFly. They’re great songwriters and great performers. The way they carry themselves on and off stage has always been inspirational to us. Blink-182 also played a huge part in our development throughout our teen years. We’re very much inspired by Jack Antonoff, as a producer, writer and artist himself, he does it all, which is very inspiring to us. To mention Coldplay again, we love how they switch things up for each album cycle, and to still be growing as a band after twenty plus years, is just a testament to their music and craft, that’s really inspiring to us. Acts such as, HAIM, The 1975, Paul Simon, The Killers, Harry Styles, are all honourable mentions but we could honestly be here all day! We really love artists who aren’t afraid to be bold and do something different. Lastly, we’ve always been inspired by our late Grandad Jerry Allen, an organist and television entertainer throughout the 50s and the 60s. His musical legacy has always and continues to inspire us."
Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with? "We’ve thought about this question a lot in the past! Very tough! We have a big list of artists we’d love to work with but Brandon Flowers would be really cool. His vocals are so unique and would be crazy to hear them on a track of ours!"
What would be your dream venue to play?
"The Pyramid stage at Glastonbury would be insane, think we can all agree on that. That aside, we’d love to play the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, it looks like something out of ‘Close Encounters of The Third Kind’! Such a unique venue. The Forum in LA and The Royal Albert Hall would also be dream venues for us, they’re filled with so much history, amazing venues. Lastly we’d definitely say Wembley for that full circle moment!"
You released your brand new track ‘Saturday’s Dream’. How have you guys found making music in the last year during the pandemic and during lockdowns? "We’ve found it pretty good actually. As we make our music from home anyway, that side of things remained the same. The lockdowns slowed the pace of life down and essentially made you take everything day by day and to focus on the present. Knowing that everything going on outside was out of our control, we found this really helped us with just letting ideas flow without judgment and just have fun being creative. Earlier this year throughout lockdown, we enrolled on Ryan Tedder’s Monthly songwriting/production course, which helped us grow as writers, producers and artists massively. We feel we approach songwriting with a whole new outlook now."
Tell us a little about the new release! "We started 'Saturday’s Dream' during the very first lockdown. We really got into the DIY and ‘Bedroom Pop’ world. We listened to all the playlists we could find! It’s like a little corner of the internet where imperfections are celebrated. We just love the raw relatability of it. We had discovered Dayglow’s album “Fuzzybrain” which played a big role in the initial spark of the song. With the song we wanted to play to everything that ‘stereotypical’ classic pop has taught us over the years. Big saxophone solo, key change, ‘na na na’s’, chants etc! Something to scream in the car with your friends! The instrumental of the track came together pretty rapidly and existed without melody/lyrics for a good 5 - 6 months. We’d just dance around to the instrumental! Alfie came up with the chorus melody by listening to the track through headphones whilst lying in bed one night, and then proceeded to write the lyrics whilst in the shower the next day! So now, if we’re stuck for lyrics at all… “Alfie go take a shower!!” From then on the track came together rather quickly! The saxophone on the track is played by Jacob Shaw, one third of Triple H Horns, very talented player! We knew we wanted something huge and something 80s. We were put in contact through a mutual friend and after a handful of versions, Jacob sent through the final take which blew us and our phone speakers away!"
For anyone who hasn’t heard the track yet, how would you describe the track in less than 5 words? "Dreamy, Coming-of-Age (can we count that as one word?), Euphoric, Thriving."
Finally, what has the rest of the year got in store for you both? "More cups of tea for sure! New music is on the horizon with a second single set for release very soon, followed by our brand new EP, so stay tuned for that! We’ve been working on a new live show as well, so we’re looking forward to getting out and playing again soon!"
'Saturday's Dream' is out now. Listen HERE @lilacfallband
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