Kevin Bronson on October 21st, 2016

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Lilyer is the nom de tune of L.A.-based Norwegian singer-songwriter Marte Solbakken, once the frontwoman of the Bay Area outfit Elskling (translation: sweetheart!) and more recently a singer-keyboardist and co-writer (on eight songs over two albums) for Van Pierszalowski’s WATERS and keyboardist for Luna’s Britta Phillips. Her first single “I Was on Your Side” comes sheathed in atmospheric synths and sweet affirmation, its detached melancholy reminiscent of fellow Scandinavians Club 8 or L.A. indie-pop luminaries like Superhumanoids and Kisses. The song was produced by Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes and represents the completion of a full circle for Solbakken, who quit playing music as a child when her family fell apart, spent her teen years in foster and reconnected with music a decade later in New York City. In “I Was on Your Side,” she’s clearly standing up for herself — “you were the one who told me this is all I ever will be,” she sings, as Lilyer’s first single makes a strong case for the opposite.

||| Stream: “I Was on Your Side”