LALA LALA - I Want The Door To Open (LP) - Clear Vinyl

Lillie West has always written like someone carefully picking up pieces of themselves and holding them to the light. On I Want The Door To Open, released October 8, 2021 on Hardly Art, that impulse gets a new palette. The Chicago artist behind Lala Lala leans into synths, drum machines, and watery textures that feel more prismatic than anything on 2018’s guitar-forward The Lamb. It is still intimate and exacting, but the edges blur in a way that suits West’s restless curiosity.

You can hear the shift immediately in DIVER, the lead single. It ripples with chorus-soaked keys and a pulse that never hurries, like a swimmer pacing their breath. West’s voice stays close to the ear, precise and steady, almost conversational even as the arrangement glints around it. Color of the Pool runs with that idea. It sways on a bright synth figure and an easy backbeat, yet it never tips into gloss. The production prizes space. Notes hang for a second longer than expected. Little percussive details click in the corners. It is music built for repeat listens because the rooms in these songs feel different depending on where you stand.

That restraint throws the writing into focus. West has talked across past records about selfhood and the distance between what you feel and what you show. Here, the title reads like a wish, but also a dare. The lyrics circle the threshold, the moment before you commit, and the unease that comes with stepping through. There is a lot of looking and listening. Water returns as an image, not just in the singles, and the instruments follow suit. Synth pads ebb and recede. Bass moves like a slow current. When guitars do show up, they often chime rather than churn.

The record also benefits from West’s grounding in the Chicago DIY scene, where collaborators tend to drift across projects and help each other stretch. You can hear that community mindset in the arrangements. Even the lushest moments leave room for air, as if the songs were built with live interplay in mind. It is not a maximalist leap so much as a widening of the frame. The Lamb hinted at this, but I Want The Door To Open commits to it and trusts the listener to meet it halfway.

Critical reception backed that move. The album drew thoughtful reviews from places like Pitchfork and Stereogum, with attention paid to how much broader the sound has become without losing the core of West’s writing. NPR highlighted the singles in its new release coverage as well, which makes sense. These songs land quickly, then reveal fine-grain detail over time. That balance is tricky. West makes it feel natural.

If you are crate-digging for Lala Lala vinyl, this one is a satisfying pickup. The low end is warm and the synth layers sit nicely on wax, the kind of record that blooms when the needle settles and the room goes quiet. I Want The Door To Open vinyl also pairs well with The Lamb if you are building a small run of Lala Lala albums on vinyl and want to trace the growth. For anyone outside the big-city shops, it is easy to buy Lala Lala records online, and I have even spotted copies while browsing vinyl records Australia retailers between local releases and US imports. However you find it, let it play front to back at least once before lifting the arm.

What lingers after a few spins is how humane this album feels. The sonics are cool to the touch, yet there is no detachment. West sings with clarity and care, inviting you into the question rather than insisting on an answer. Even the catchiest verses carry that sense of inquiry. You get the feeling the door in the title is less about escape and more about permeability, a way of letting the outside world in without losing yourself. That is a sturdy needle to thread, and it suits where Lala Lala sits now. The songs are less a diary than a set of rooms, well lit, open to wander, generous with their echoes.