Lilac drops debut album

A year ago, Anchorage-based supergroup, Lilac, was set to take the Anchorage music scene by storm. But as concerns about the ongoing pandemic ratcheted back up, the band had to put their plans on the shelf.

“We definitely got a little sidetracked with everything that was happening,” said Thomas Moore, singer, guitar player, and co-frontman.

With the band’s bassist, Daniel Capoe Ley’s close contact with his elderly grandmother, Lilac did their best to balance playing live shows while also limiting their potential COVID exposure. Taking on smaller venues like The Nave and Cafecito Bonito, the band slowly began to amass a loyal following that helped catapult them to performances at Williwaw and Koot’s.

But as the band continued to tighten their setlist and perfect their live performances, they felt that something was missing — an album.

“We were playing our setlist of songs, and we’re getting really solid on them. Because we had been playing them so much and done so many shows, we felt really good about starting to work on our debut album,” explained Moore.

Perfectionists by nature, Lilac saved themselves the typical problem that usually tags along with first album releases: choosing only some from an ocean of songs.

“It was a natural process because we already knew these songs work together. We found a really good flow, so we turned our very well-practiced set into the album,” said Moore.

Fittingly, Lilac’s debut, “Bloom,” not only references the floral inspiration of the band’s name but also the notion of renewal.

“We just thought it was a proper fit for a title. It’s pretty self-explanatory, simple, and nice,” said Moore with a smile.

What isn’t simple, however, is the band’s music.

“When we started the band, the idea was to not really pick a genre. We wanted to cover the songs we loved and write some original stuff too. We sort of wanted to throw ideas at the wall and see what stuck. And that’s still our underlying mantra when we’re writing songs and rehearsing. I don’t know if I can name any specific influences, though. We don’t want to ever put ourselves in a box,” said Moore.

In the spirit of breaking out of the box, Lilac’s members decided to throw caution to the wind and occupy new roles within the band. Moore traded in his drum set for a guitar. Ley, who is currently studying guitar at UAA, transitioned to bass. Bassist Disney Ramos picked up the guitar and a mic. The only member not to pick up a new instrument, David Devlin stuck to his drum kit. Their fearlessness is one of the things that makes their music so exciting.

“I’m one of the main songwriters, but Disney also brings in songs that we all work on them together,” explained Moore. “My themes might be a little bit different than his, but generally, they’re focused on life and death. Just big existential questions, love, at times friendships, family — you know, life’s questions.”

Despite all having very different styles and influences, it has been easy for them to find common ground.

“We have a song called Flow. I think that’s probably the band’s favorite right now. It’s got a lot of dynamic shifts, and it starts slow, but then toward the end, it gets kind of heavy. I think that’s a good representation of what our band can achieve,” explained Moore.

A sonically diverse album, “Bloom” features vocals from Moore, Ley, and Ramos.

“Disney and I like to switch off lead vocals, so he mainly sings the songs that he wrote, and then I mainly sing the songs that I wrote,” said Moore. “Going back to ‘Flow,’ I think the way we created that song is a good representation of our creative process. Disney wrote the music for it, and I wrote the lyrics, which is different than how we usually operate. It’s cool to be able to collaborate like that.”

Releasing an album can be seen as a culmination of the recording process, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter.

“In 2023, we just want to keep moving forward. After this album release, we will play a show in January, and then we’re going to focus on writing some more music,” said Moore. “We would like to release the second album definitely, but we have no timeline at all for that...yet.”

Come forget about the snow-apocalypse and get warm up with Lilac’s live show and album release Friday, December 16th at Van’s Dive Bar (1027 E 5th Ave.). They will be joined by Strawberry Fields and Wash Your Hands. The music starts at 9pm.