Stream: One Degree of Alex Lilly – an artist’s playlist

Kevin Bronson on January 24th, 2019

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“Don’t look at me / like you think I’m cold / I’m just a little cynical,” Alex Lilly sings on “Hypothetical,” from her new album “2% Milk.”

But it’s the veneer of cool that shines brightest on the L.A. singer-songwriter’s full-length debut, even as she traverses the emotional geography of heartbreak, existential malaise and the benefits of simply thinking of life as low-calorie milk. (The title track is actually adapted from a poem by Jacqueline Suskind.) “2% Milk” is full of playful beats and elliptical melodies, never settling into pop formula and constantly ricocheting the listener back to Lilly’s bright, versatile vocals and wordplay. She is a chanteuse with a box full of toys, making three-minute modern art pieces out of musical Legos.

Lilly’s solo debut, out on Inara George’s new label Release Me Records, comes after years of her work as a side player, studio musician and linchpin in other bands. Most recently, she was a touring member of Beck’s band (and contributes backup vocals on his new “Tarantula”). Besides releasing music as Obi Best and Touché and joining George, Eleni Mandell and Becky Stark in the Living Sisters, Lilly has over the years performed with Lorde, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, the Bird and the Bee … and, well, the list goes on.

Which is the point of “One Degree of Alex Lilly.” Buzz Bands LA asked the singer-songwriter to make a playlist highlighting many of the artists she has collaborated with in some way. It’s not a short playlist. Find it below, along with Lilly’s most recent video and a stream of “2% Milk”:

||| Stream: One Degree of Alex Lilly