RELAAY + LYLAK at The Monarch
Schedule
Sat, 05 Apr, 2025 at 07:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
1318 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY, United States, Kentucky 40204 | Louisville, KY
We're so excited to welcome RELAAY + LYLAK into the listening room Saturday, April 5th!Doors 7pm // 8pm Music
Artist Donation + BYOB + <3
RELAAY is an indie pop band from Louisville, KY. They strive to make the kind of music that they would have loved listening to as teenagers. But more importantly, RELAAY is being the band they needed to see when they were young. Audrey Cecil and Amanda Lucas have been through a lot. Together. Having met as young kids in Kentucky in the late ‘90s, where being different was generally discouraged, and rigid norms steamrolled young people who didn’t fit neatly in conventional boxes, Audrey and Amanda have forged a life-long friendship and creative partnership — one based in shared struggles — in an unforgiving, male-dominated industry. In their coming of age, they had no access to music and entertainment that truly reflected queer culture or identities. They strive to be the representation they needed as kids by showing up as who they are without reservation. Audrey and Amanda's contrasting personalities aid in creating music that doesn't feel genre-specific. These personality differences peek through in the studio and on stage, where their sibling-like relationship truly shines.
Though the duo has been making music together for over a decade, RELAAY is a new frontier. With their debut album Midtempo Magic, RELAAY set out to create something bold and unapologetic — a sonically and emotionally layered album that serves as a sterling reminder that no matter who you are, you're not alone; things can and will change for the better, and you can shape your own destiny. To aid in this new venture, RELAAY tapped their friend and fellow singer/songwriter Mark Charles (of Vandaveer) to serve as producer. The trio spent nearly 18 months building up and tearing down the collection of songs that would become the group’s debut full-length, an edifying process filled with a fair share of laughter and tears.
RELAAY write and perform music that documents life in a way that invites you to join the conversation. They confront harmful narratives, deep-seated anxieties, and complicated encounters, reframing their own experiences in a manner that lets the listener hear and see themselves in the universal struggle to get by and be heard, to love and be loved.
Midtempo Magic is about liberation. The nine songs within tackle soul-crushing loss, impossibly difficult conversations, and good, old-fashioned hard knocks. But don't get it twisted, this music is fun. Much like Audrey and Amanda themselves, Midtempo Magic is both yin and yang. Danceable and exhilarating, yet contemplative and comforting. A reminder to the listener that, if you stay true to yourself, you can be defiant and welcoming, uncompromising and inclusive all at once.
If you like boygenius, HAIM, Joseph, Fleetwood Mac, Maggie Rogers, or The War on Drugs, you’re gonna love RELAAY. Midtempo Magic is out now, where all fine music is streamed or sold.
With a name that hints at color and nature, Lylak (Gideon Maki, Elizabeth Varnado) make a point to play with heart and leave the stage a bit more beautiful than they found it. Lylak’s vibrant folk harmonies offer an alternative take on the celebrated Kentucky sound, blending up Laurel Canyon Americana (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jackson Browne) with early aughts indie rock (The Shins, Band of Horses, American Football) and for an emotional journey with a witty, smooth finish.
