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Interview
International Pop Underground: Hyper-Prolific Cult Songwriter Lily Konigsberg Just Knows She s a Popstar
Lily Konigsberg wrote her first song when she was 2 years old. She was in Florida, with her dad, holding his hand in a pool, and sung the melodic refrain: oooooh ooh-ooh-oooh, you really got baby/ohhhh ohhh ohh, you really got me .
Since then, the 28-year-old has written hundreds of songs, thousands perhaps. Bursting with melody and restless energy. Some of her early songs were ill-fated I wrote songs about September 11th when I was in 2nd grade and performed them on the street, Konigsberg recalls, which is somewhat inappropriate now that I think about it but more recently they ve hit the mark again and again.
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The cheekily named compilation includes songs from three solo releases, alongside unreleased tracks and bedroom demos that offer a shining mosaic of the New York singer-songwriterâs indie-pop acumen.
Last year, Lily Konigsberg said, âI want to write songs that get stuck in peopleâs heads for the rest of their lives.â As one-third of the ramshackle art-punk band Palberta, that specific kind of stickiness might not sound like Top 40 hits composed by a professional songwriter consortium. Yet the lifelong New Yorker has explored the fringes of the mainstream for as long as sheâs made music, both in her solo work and with avant-pop duo Lily and Horn Horse. This cheekily titled compilation collects Konigsberg s recent string of EPs, showcasing her hyper-melodic hooks and disarmingly honest lyrics while remaining left of the dial.
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It s the same spirit stripped-down sets, an intimate setting just a different space.
While many of us have gotten better at using technology to feel close to our friends and collaborators over the past year, there s still no replacement for being in the same room as someone who you swear can read your mind. That s what it feels like to watch punk band Palberta, whose music makes magic out of repeated phrases sung in tight harmony and charmingly zany pop hooks. For its Tiny Desk (home) concert, shot on a MiniDV and a Hi8, the band crams into one member s Philly basement for a set that s a testament to the group s tight-knit collaboration and playful exuberance.
âI wrote âOwe Meâ in Petaluma on a trip with my friend Matt Norman,â Konigsberg said in a statement. âI knew immediately that it was one of those bangers that was gonna rock peopleâs worlds, but after Matt added some essential keyboard licks, it disappeared into the abyss of my computer accompanying roughly 500 other songs still stuck there.â She continued:Â
When concept of
The Best of Lily Konigsberg Right Now came together with my friend Trip Warner, I knew this should be released. With the help of Nate Amos who enhanced the beat, added the descriptive sounds, and basically just made it sound amazing, it was finally complete. For me, the lyrics to this song arenât as important as how much collaboration and friendship can transform a banger into a BANGER. I love my friends.