With a few singles to hold listeners over this past year (our favourite was “OH GOD”), NYC alt-pop star Lily Hain has finally released her debut album, Fatal Flaws.
Over the course of ten tracks, she brings her audience from Avril Lavigne-inspired heights (the self-love abundant “Just Another Party”) to Olivia Rodrigo-adjacent, modernized ballads (cascading harmonies abound on “Heart on the Line”). What amasses is a body of work entirely her own, a seat at the table of today’s beloved female songwriters.
“Ursula” is the core of the album, a vulnerable exploration of Hain’s experience struggling with her mental health. As a redhead, she draws a clear parallel between herself and Ariel, making the villain the push and pull of invisible illness. She states, “I wanted the chorus to kind of sound like a storm rolling in to aid in the portrayal of the tumultuous lyrics.”
“Songwriting has always been a form of therapy for me and although releasing music, especially a project like this, can be daunting and vulnerable, it’s always very empowering to share my truth and where I am in life.”
“When Does It Get Better” shares a similar sentiment. “I’m in so much pain,/ But I’d never transfer it to my mother.” The straight-forward, nearly blunt, nature of her lyricism takes it a step further than confessionalism. Hain is a force to be reckoned with – not a fatality, but very much full of life.