The Brooklyn musician, a member of Palberta and the duo Lily and Horn Horse, crafts whimsical, minimalist indie pop with a slippery lyrical sensibility.
At the center of a Venn diagram containing haunted dolls, Arthur Russell, and Ariana Grande sits Lily Konigsberg. The idiosyncratic, shape-shifting Brooklyn musician’s boundless creativity animates a range of projects: the jagged experimental trio Palberta, the avant-pop duo Lily and Horn Horse, and a wide array of collaborations and solo releases under her own name. Konigsberg’s latest solo release, It’s Just Like All the Clouds, is a brief but charming EP of stripped-down indie rock. In four songs recorded by Paco Cathcart (The Cradle), she leans into her bubbliest impulses, enlivening well-worn sounds with earnest playfulness.
In all of Konigsberg’s releases, even her most abstract, there is an implicit pop backbone. It’s Just Like All the Clouds takes that tendency and strips it to its essence, resulting in short, infectious songs with punchy hooks. Opener “At Best” dabbles in indie pop, thanks to Konigsberg’s cheery guitar and peppy drums performed by her Palberta bandmate Nina Ryser. “When I find it hard to relax/I fix myself and then/I’m okay/And then I punch my brother/I have a better day,” she sings blithely. Konigsberg has name-dropped Liz Phair as an influence, and the jangly warmth of “I Said” feels especially indebted to the indie-rock legend. “Crushing all the bugs that I find in my hairbrush/Crusty but harmless guys clustering in a circle,” she murmurs sweetly, her honeyed voice veiling the decay beneath.
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The EP’s title track, on the other hand, is a whimsical burst of Auto-Tune that’s closer to Lily and Horn Horse. It’s a small song that expands kaleidoscopically with zippy whimsy. Lyrically, Konigsberg leans toward minimalism, often relying on the repetition of simple observations. In this case, the message is vague but firm: “Now that you don’t want me I don’t need your time/I’m bound to stay away.” The freewheeling, flitting melodies underline the precision of Konigsberg’s songwriting: She knows what she wants to say and she is methodical about how much to reveal.
It’s Just Like All the Clouds closes with the wistful “Summer in the City,” where Konigsberg is joined by frequent collaborators Andre Schiavelli on keys and Charlie Dore-Young on bass and backing vocals. It is an understated vision of nostalgia: As Matt Norman’s pensive horn weaves through the background, Konigsberg captures an elusive longing, letting the melody speak for her. Though the whole EP is over in seven and a half minutes, the warmth Konigsberg generates extends long after the record ends.
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