lilo

Indie-folk duo lilo are sharing the final single to be lifted from their debut album, ‘Cycling’, which you can listen to here. The song comes alongside a music video that follows Christie and Helen making an arduous journey after a crash on their tandem pushbike with a delicious punchline worthy of the entrance fee alone.

Their debut album ‘Blood Ties’ is out on 28 March via Dalliance Recordings and the band are heading out on a UK tour to celebrate, including a hometown show at the The Railway Inn in Winchester on 3 April and culminating at the George Tavern in London on 10 April. Full tour dates listed below.

Christie says of the track: “I wrote cycling, as with a number of the songs on this album, when I was working at a primary school during COVID. The journey referenced was my journey down the old Kent road on my bike. At the best of times, I felt like I was really helping, like the students were learning, and I was helping them move through this very confusing time. Then, there would come bouts of uncertainty, of sorrow, of grief. These would sometimes come when I felt that a group of students hadn’t grasped what I’d tried to teach them, sometimes it would come when a pupil told me about something that had happened at home, and sometimes it just came from the questions they had about the world that we live in. I felt so consistently helpless, like I was supposed to know exactly what to do with no training, on £70 a day, with a class who had main class teachers leaving after just a couple of weeks. They all asked if they left because of them. The song comes from this uncertainty, this unclaimed blame. But the good in this song, the feeling of being made to help out, the feeling of knowing you’re beautiful even covered in sweat, the arduous yet ever changing route cycling down the old Kent road, all comes from the inspiration of those children who, perhaps didn’t know another world, but were doing the very best with the one they were irresponsibly given.”

With two stunning alt-country / indie rock EPs (2022’s Sleep Country and 2023’s I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside), childhood friends Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon proved themselves a new duo with something special going on. As lilo, their songs reflected the life of twenty-somethings in and out of love and luck, with this human element perfectly weighted alongside their arresting harmonies and rich instrumentation.

While informed by a deep understanding and love of folk music, with references to Karen Dalton and Julie Collins a regular occurrence, their music is also modern, in line with the likes of Julia Jacklin, Laura Marling and Mitski. They say they like to give their songs “a poppier lean” because “We want to have fun and try not to think too much about genre. We just write what we feel makes sense for the sentiment of each song.”

Signed to Dalliance Recordings (Francis of Delirium, HighSchool, Gia Margaret, Rowena Wise), 2025 will finally see the release of their brilliant debut album, ‘Blood Ties’. A title that reflects the pair’s enduring bond after years spent together, the inspiration for its making came after a turbulent summer they both endured; “At the time, it felt like we just couldn’t catch a break, it was just one disaster after another,” Helen says.

As is often the way, their pain is our gain with the resultant set of songs feeling fully fleshed out and their best yet, a benefit from them not rushing the process. With its understated beauty, the band explore highs and lows across Blood Ties - feelings of numbness, break-ups and hardship mesh with day dreams, an open heart and moments of happiness. You start to understand the significance more when hearing Christie describe it as “a little window into our lives that we get to keep forever.” Such is their symbiosis that it is at times difficult to separate one voice from another; “We live intertwined lives and as a result, we write about each others’ experiences as much as our own,” Helen explains.

An emotional journey and truly rewarding listen, ‘Blood Ties’ is released on 28 March via Dalliance Recordings.