It’s a great week for Lily Seabird. And, from my perspective, it’s a great time to be interviewing her. 

For one thing, I happen to be speaking with her on the release day of her third album, Trash Mountain, which is out now via Lame-O Records. That excitement seems to buzz off her, and she radiates excited energy in the best way. Though, as we get into our conversation, I realize that a lot of that charm simply comes with the territory. She is an artist worth hearing. 

“I’ve always been making music,” Seabird explains. “I made my first [album] at home during the pandemic with some friends and a tape machine, just doing it for fun. I always played in bands, and after the pandemic, I kept getting asked to play cool shows. I started touring and then I made a second record. Going with the flow and making music are just two things that I’m always doing. And now, my third album’s out. It’s all really transitioned into a full lifestyle, touring all the time.” She laughs as she adds, “I don’t have a ‘real’ job, like a ‘career’ job. This is what I do.” 

Though, with a gift like Seabird’s, how could she possibly be expected to do anything else? 

Trash Mountain offers nine stripped down acoustic tracks, that range in style, but still feel cohesive, and they showcase Seabird’s talents as not only a songwriter, but as someone who understands genre. Songs like the album’s closing track, “The Fight,” feel reminiscent of the singer-songwriter greats from the 60s and 70s, like Joni Mitchell or Carole King, while songs like “Trash Mountain (1 pm),” one half of the album’s two titular songs, feel like a modern Bob Dylan track. It’s quick, but perfectly paced. 

“The past couple years, I’ve just been touring all the time,” says Seabird of what initially drew her to create Trash Mountain. “I’m either playing live music, playing solo shows, playing with my band, playing in other people’s bands. I came home from tour and just thought, ‘I want to try and write songs all the time, just to see what happens.’ Mentors of mine have always said you need to be writing every day. I was never really doing that. But, Jeff Tweedy says in his book that he used to write a song every day. I was just trying to do that. Then the gears started turning. I was making more songs, and I liked that they were about everything, rather than intense emotions like they were in the past. I felt like I was really working on my craft.” 

This venture of intensive songwriting ultimately just so happened to align at a time where Seabird had caught the attention of Lame-O Records, marking her first collaboration with the label. 

“The first two records I made was like a random batch of songs that were ready for an album. I feel like this album feels like I came into a feeling of being inspired. I wanted to make an album, but I didn’t have any songs. Like, Alas [her 2024 sophomore album], I made that record, it wasn’t big. It was over a year of recording and working a full time job, it was definitely on the back burner. It was just a fun side project. By the time that record was done, though, my life had changed a lot. I was on the road a lot. It’s not like I’m out here hustling, it’s just what I like to do. There’s not a lot of pressure. I’ve been pretty independent since I was a teenager, just going with the flow.” 

There’s a innate sense of creativity that radiates out of Seabird. She is simply one of those people that you just know was meant to be an artist. From the way she can turn over songs so quickly, to the way she can even speak about her artistic process, it’s evident that being a musician is simply embedded in her soul. Though, in speaking with her, it’s also evident that she chooses to always surround herself with creativity, residing in Burlington, Vermont. The album’s title derives from “Trash Mountain,” a pink house that sits in an abandoned landfill in Burlington, known for fostering a community of artists of all kinds to collaborate and share in the joy of making art. 

“I live in a very creative and rural community. I’m just chilling and making music. I just wanted to make songs, and they all started trying to be about the same thing, because that’s where I was at. I feel like this record feels most cohesive to me because the songs are all about similar things. When you write a bunch of songs at the same time, it’s a reflection of what’s going on. It’s not like a record where the songs were written over three years, and it’s all different, which is what my last two records were. This felt more of a piece of work to me. I’m so happy it’s out, I’m so happy it’s out there. Something I feel connected to so deeply.” 

Along with the release of Trash Mountain comes a headlining tour, which starts tonight in Catskills, New York. And while the first few shows will not feature a full band, Seabird is excited to include a full band later in the summer. 

“My band has not toured these songs yet,” she says, excitedly. “I’ve only played these songs solo. So everyone’s learning how to make them into something. We’re going to get together and learn how to make these songs that don’t have drums on them have drums on them, which is kind of fun. It’s fun to have these songs come out and then be like, ‘Okay, it’s time to learn them.’” 

But, as for what Seabird hopes listeners take away from Trash Mountain, that recurring theme of going with the flow reemerges. “Whatever they want,” she laughs, when asked what she hopes listeners gain from the album. “I mean, I guess some kind of hope,” she adds. “I only really know what it’s like to be me. Everyone only knows what it’s like to be themselves, and at least when I listen to music, I like to feel not alone. When I listen to my favorite music, I get that sense of nostalgia for something I’ve never experienced. It’s something humans feel a lot, and I do at least when I’m listening to music that I love. I hope people feel like that. I hope they feel anemoia.” 

You can listen to Trash Mountain below. 

You can find more information on Lily Seabird’s tour here.