Lily Seabird Releases New Single | New Album, Out 9/4 Physically and 10/2 Digitally

Vermont singer-songwriter Lily Seabird has released "Portal to the Past," the second single from her upcoming album, Lightspheres on Their Way, due out September 4 on physical formats and October 2 digitally via Lame-O Records.

The new song follows "Election Day," which earned recognition as a Rolling Stone "Song You Need to Know," and offers another glimpse into an album shaped by memory, change, and the passage of time. Built around warm, guitar-driven arrangements, "Portal to the Past" gradually expands into an extended instrumental section, where Seabird and guitarist Rick Soszynski lean into fuzzy, free-flowing textures that become as emotionally expressive as the lyrics themselves.

For Seabird, that instrumental release is intentional. Rather than relying solely on words, the song allows its closing moments to communicate feelings that are difficult to articulate, creating the sense of emotional release that comes with simply letting go and moving forward.

The track began as a poem written after Seabird awoke from a vivid dream while staying on a friend's porch in New Orleans. Reflecting on its origins, she explains that many of the songs on the album wrestle with memory and the way people revisit moments from their past. "Portal to the Past" explores how dwelling too long on old experiences can make them feel startlingly immediate, as though time itself has folded back on itself.

Those ideas continue throughout Lightspheres on Their Way, a nine-song collection centered on mortality, transformation, and the connections that shape people's lives. Seabird uses the idea of "lightspheres" as a recurring symbol—representing everything from literal sources of light, such as stars and headlights, to the people, relationships, and moments that quietly alter the direction of a life.

Unlike its predecessor, whose songs were largely written from the stability of home, Lightspheres on Their Way took shape while Seabird was constantly traveling. Lyrics were drafted wherever inspiration appeared, from paper napkins during long van rides to the back of an electric bill in a coffee shop. One song was written shortly after learning of the passing of folk icon Michael Hurley, adding another layer of reflection to the record's themes of loss and remembrance.

The album was recorded during the opening days of 2026 in rural Maine alongside longtime collaborator Garrett Linck, who also co-produced the project. Working out of Linck's home with a simple recording setup warmed by a wood stove, the pair crafted an intimate yet richly detailed sound that mirrors the album's deeply personal songwriting.

Throughout the record, Seabird shifts her focus away from documenting specific life events and instead explores the person she has become through them. Themes of grief, addiction, mortality, and uncertainty are approached with compassion rather than despair, resulting in an album that embraces change as an unavoidable—and ultimately meaningful—part of life.

Following the digital release of Lightspheres on Their Way, Seabird will head out on tour this fall, joining Black Country, New Road for a series of shows across the southern United States.