Lily Seabird at The Lexington

Lily Seabird

Joe Harvey-Whyte

The Lexington, 3 September 2026

I was back in more familiar territory at The Lexington last night to see the lovely Lily Seabird, who was over in London to promote her new album Lightspheres On Their Way. Apparently this was her first time playing on these shores with a band, and what a brilliant way to see her for the first time as it was a truly electrifying show.

After the confusion of the Geese show and feeling a bit out of place it felt good to be going to The Lexington with its warm and intimate atmosphere. Plus looking at the audience I was truly back among my people and the whole vibe was friendly and relaxed.

There was supposed to be two support acts tonight but by the time I got to the venue only one was on the set times pinned on the wall: Joe Harvey-Whyte.  I had heard the name before because he had recently supported Wednesday on their recent UK tour but didn't really know anything about him.

When he turned up on stage looking like he could be in a 70s rock band, with his long hair and denim jacket and sat behind a rather snazzy looking pedal steel, I assumed he was American but it turns out he's actually from London, and wow, was he good.

He began playing the pedal steel but ran it through dozens of different effects pedals creating strange and droning sounds that were completely soothing to my soul. It sometimes reminded me of Ry Cooder's work on the Paris, Texas soundtrack but with atmospheric sounds added in creating a really effective soundscape.

After the first song he talked about how he loved nature and would go out to enjoy all the sounds during which he had taken to making lots of field recordings which he then used in his songs. He demonstrated this by this time taking up an acoustic guitar and finger picking a folky instrumental but again using pedals to create ambient sounds with little flourishes of things like birds chirping and other sounds from nature. It was truly magical.

He returned to the pedal steel for the final number, again using the twangy and weeping sounds of the traditional country instrument and adding all these different sounds and effects for a beautiful transportive soundtrack, it was utterly beautiful and I loved every minute of it. It was so refreshing to see such a fantastic support and I really hope I get to see him again.

Next was Lily Seabird and her band (made up of regular guitarist Rick Soszynski and local musicians Beth on bass and Paulo on drums), and they first appeared to set up their equipment, like in all these small shows but seemed in good spirits. The tiny Seabird looked cute as a button in a retro-looking floral dress but once she strapped on her guitar she was a force to be reckoned with.

She began with two songs from last year's Trash Mountain, one of my favourites from 2025:  Harmonoia, which starts off like a emotional folk song and builds to a more rowdy, guitar-riffing finish, and the rootsy Arrow, which shows off Seabird's raw vocals and reminds me of Lucinda Williams at her best.

She then explains that her new album, Lightspheres On Their Way, is out tomorrow and they would be playing some songs from it, in fact the rest of the set! But it was exciting to hear so much of the new record live and I must say it already sounds like it's going to be one of the best this year.

There were a few that were completely new to me, like the sweetly upbeat and folky Bindlestiff and the moody but beautiful Blackstar, with its long but effective instrumental outtro. But it was the grungy and raucous single Election Day that really got me excited, it sounded menacing and cool and it was amazing to watch Seabird thrash away on her Telecastor guitar, reminding me a little of Adrienne Lenker at her gnarliest, while Soszynski also delivered a blistering guitar solo at the end.

The broody Portal To The Past had real Jason Molina vibes. She says she wrote it after a vivid dream and it does have an almost eerie feel. The sad, lonesome melody also has an Elliott Smith feel, particularly on the bridge and built beautifully to the loud Cortez The Killer-style guitar interplay at the end. It's pretty epic.

Seabird then takes it down a notch for a more gentle moment with a solo rendition of new song Slipswitch, which is an almost twangy and heartfelt ballad, played by Seabird alone as the rest of the band take a rest (although they all remain on stage). This really allows her to showcase her raw and emotional voice, fitting perfectly with a song that feels full of heartbreak.

The band rejoin her on the next song, The Afterglow, but things remain calmer with a song written after the death of singer/songwriter Michael Hurley, the song a lovely gentle strum and Seabird's warm hushed vocals. 

For the final song she welcomes opener Joe Harvey-Whyte back on stage and tells the story of how she met him, staying at someone's house while on the road in the States and discovering Harvey-Whyte was the other guest. She told him what a fan she was and asked if he would come and play with her at this London show, which he readily agreed to. He sets up his pedal steel again but as they start the song, Lightspheres On Their Way, he played what looked like an accordion to create atmospheric droning sounds as Seabird began the song alone on her guitar. Halfway through the rest of the band kicked in, with Harvey-Whyte taking his place at the pedal steel, and the song becoming a twang-filled jam, complete with marching drums and Seabelt belting out "I'll be alright!" before ending with an extended instrumental. It was absolutely stunning. 

The band then left the stage but I think the audience would have definitely been up for another song but I think Seabird et al probably did the right thing and left us all wanting more. It was a fantastic night and an absolute treat to hear all the new songs live. I caught a glimpse of what she would be like playing solo with Slipstream and she know she would definitely be great playing alone too but it really was thrilling to see her with a band and to hear these songs fully fleshed out. I will never not love a band with Crazy Horse vibes and Seabird's music definitely has that.

After she was manning the merch desk so I briefly got to meet her and she was so sweet with a girlish voice: so different to the raspy, world-weary way she sings. I bought the new record, of course, a day before it was released. Unusually the physical release is coming first, with the album only arriving on streaming next month, which is a nice way to do it (and obviously makes us record collectors feel more special). 

All in all this was such a great way to see Lily Seabird for the first time and I hope it won't be the last!