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Apr 02, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

Massachusetts-based shoegaze outfit Lilac Queen have shared their new EP, things are different now. The band formed in 2019 featuring members of Bystander and A Tiny Spider and last year signed with No Sleep Records and released their debut EP If Only. Now the band have followed with their sophomore EP and an upcoming 7” vinyl release on No Sleep Records.

With the band’s latest release they once again split the difference between shoegaze, post-hardcore, and emo perfectly, refining and progressing their already stellar sound. The first track, “fences,” soaks singer Lily St. Germaine’s vocals in layers of crushing shoegaze distortion. Yet their emotional vocals cut clearly through the din, standing resolute and powerful while providing a surprisingly melodic counterpoint to the track’s more abrasive aesthetics. Meanwhile, “piles,” written by bandmate Dug, dives further into the band’s heavier side, wrenching roared melodies, and ringing emo harmonies from the band’s punishing post-hardcore. Together the tracks provide tantalizing hints at where Lilace Queen is going and, if the EP is anything to go by, their sound is already growing in leaps and bounds.

St. Germaine says of “fences: “I wrote ‘Fences’ as a way to cope after getting out of an abusive relationship. ‘Cemetery Sounds,’ on our last EP, was written when I was still in that relationship but was trying to find a way out, and ‘Fences’ kind of piggy-backs off that. My mental health and PTSD really took a toll on me when I was in it and when I was trying to process some of the things that happened in it, and I was finally putting the pieces back together when I wrote this.”

“In terms of the lyrics, I’m not religious at all, but my family is Catholic, and some of them were pretty religiously involved when I was younger. I was always told to be a good person so I could go to heaven, and if I “sinned” at all, I would go to hell. My dad stopped making an attempt to bring my sister and I to church every Sunday pretty early on, but the concept of heaven and hell still sits with me. Would I still go to hell even if those sins weren’t my fault? ‘Fences’ is about learning to process that I had no control over the things that happened to me, and none of them are my fault. I’m not any less of a person because someone else did bad things to me. None of it was my fault. And sometimes that’s still hard to believe, but I’m trying and I’m getting there.” Listen to things are different now below and pre-order the 7” here.