Alexandra Lahey ( ) (born 30 July 1992) is an Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her debut album, ''I Love You Like a Brother'' was released on 6 October 2017 and peaked at No. 15 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

Early life

Alex Lahey was born in 1992 in Albert Park, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, with her mother, Vicki, her father Bill and her brother, Will. At 13-years-old, she started learning saxophone and guitar. She started university courses in both jazz and the arts but dropped out of the jazz component to join a local pop group, Animaux, on vocals and saxophone. After completing her arts degree Lahey decided to start a solo music career.

Career

In June 2016 Lahey won the Josh Pyke Partnership, for unsigned artists, which is co-sponsored by Pyke,

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA) and

Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(AMCOS). She received a AUD$7500 grant, a song writing mentorship from Pyke and introduction to music industry officials. Lahey won the prize ahead of 200 entries and Pyke explained, "the song she submitted was immediately stuck in my head, and her lyrics were compelling and clever. Her turn of phrase was quirky and intelligent, and really relatable... I reckon most of us have been in the situation that's portrayed in the song 'You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me'." "You Don't Think You Like People Like Me" also received ''Pitchfork'''s Best New Track Award, and it was listed in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2016 at No. 97. Lahey subsequently won a Triple J Unearthed prize, leading to a performance slot at

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

and a nomination for a

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

as Unearthed Artist of the Year. Lahey's debut extended play (EP), ''B-Grade University'', was released on 29 July 2016, via Caroline Australia Records with distribution by

Universal Music Australia Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. (UMA) is the largest Australian music corporation. It is a division of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Australia's corporate headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia. Labels Universal Musi ...

. For the five tracks Lahey provided vocals, guitar, saxophone and keyboards; she was joined by Oscar Dawson on guitar, vocals, percussion and keyboards; Sam Humphrey on guitar; Kai Chen Lim on bass guitar; and Lachie McGeehan on drums. Dawson also produced, engineered and mixed the EP. It reached No. 95 on the ARIA Top 100 Physical Albums and No. 8 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums charts. In January 2017 Lahey signed to the

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans is an American independent record label formed in 2007 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Dead Oceans is part of Secretly Group, which also ...

label, which re-released her EP. On 6 October 2017 she issued her debut album, '' I Love You Like a Brother'', through her own independent label, Nicky Boy Records/Dead Oceans via Caroline Australia/Universal Music Australia. It reached No. 15 on the ARIA Albums Chart; Laura Stanley of '' Under the Radar'' observed, " heshares scenes from her own period of self-discovery, which makes for a fierce and incredibly fun debut full-length... the record standouts happen when Lahey and her bandmates zoom through spells of heartache with candidness and in a sharp pop-punk style." ''I Love You Like a Brother'' was placed on several albums-of-the-year lists, including '' Bandcamp Daily'' (at No. 40), ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Med ...

'', the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', ''Under the Radar'', ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

'', and redbull.com. ''

Spin Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. Histor ...

'' would also cite the album as one of the magazine's 13 "Favorite Overlooked Albums of 2017". After touring Australia through October 2017, Lahey undertook an international tour of US and Europe from December 2017 and April 2018. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2018 The 32nd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) are a series of award ceremonies which include the 2018 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine ...

she was nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Release. In May 2019, Lahey released her second album ' The Best of Luck Club'. The album was produced by

Catherine Marks Catherine J Marks is a record producer, mixing engineer and audio engineer. She has worked with such artists as Foals, Manchester Orchestra, The Killers, Local Natives, Wolf Alice, Beware of Darkness, The Big Moon, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnak ...

along with Lahey. Lahey spent all of 2019 touring Australia, North America, Europe and the UK and had extensive touring plans for 2020 before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Misery Guts" from the album was featured in the video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One on September 4, 2020, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on Ma ...

. In 2020, Lahey wrote and recorded the original song "On My Way" for

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...

's '' The Mitchells vs. the Machines'', now Netflix’s biggest original animated release of all time. The song was also released on the official film soundtrack via Sony Classical. On 21 October 2021, Lahey revealed she had signed with

Liberation Records Liberation Records is an American record company based in the Los Angeles area known for do it yourself ethos and pioneering guerrilla marketing strategies. It was formed by then 16-year-old underground rock music fanzine publisher David Taba ...

and released "Spike the Punch". On 31 August 2022, Lahey released "Congratulations" and announced national tour, commencing in October 2022. It'll be her first since 2019.

Personal life

Lahey identifies as gay. Her partner is fellow Australian musician Gordi. The two released a collaboration, "Dino's", in early 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Production and Writing Discography

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , rowspan="4" , AIR Awards of 2017 , rowspan="2" , herself , Best Independent Artist , , - , Breakthrough Independent Artist , , - , ''B-Grade University'' , Best Independent Album , , - , "You Don't Think You Like People Like Me" , Best Independent Single or EP , , - , rowspan="3" ,

AIR Awards of 2018 The AIR Awards of 2018 is the twelfth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Queen's Theatre Adelaide, Australia on Thursday 26 July 2017. In 2018, ...

, herself , Best Independent Artist , , - , ''I Love You Like a Brother'' , Best Independent Album , , - , "Every Day's the Weekend" , Best Independent Single or EP , , -

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". ! , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, "Everyday’s the Weekend" , Song of the Year , , , -

ARIA Music Awards

, - ,

, ''I Love You Like a Brother'' , Breakthrough Artist , , -

J Award

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

's youth-focused radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

J Awards of 2016 The J Award of 2016 is the twelfth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station ...

, herself , Unearthed Artist of the Year , , - ,

J Awards of 2017 The J Award of 2017 is the thirteenth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, fou ...

, ''I Love You Like a Brother'' , Australian Album of the Year , , -

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. ! , - , rowspan="3",

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, "You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me" , Best Song , , rowspan="5", , - , rowspan="2", herself , Best Female Artist , , - , Best Emerging Artist , , - ,

, herself , Best Solo Artist , , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, herself , Best Solo Artist , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, "Dino's" (with Gordi) , Best Victorian Song , , , -

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - , National Live Music Awards of 2016 , herself , The Heatseeker Award (Best New Act) , , - , rowspan="2" , National Live Music Awards of 2017 , rowspan="2" , herself , International Live Achievement (Solo) , , - , People's Choice - Live Act of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" ,

National Live Music Awards of 2018 The National Live Music Awards of 2018 are the third National Live Music Awards. The event took place on 6 December 2018. The event moved its gala event to Brisbane – following events in Sydney and Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ W ...

, rowspan="2" , herself , International Live Achievement (Solo) , , - , Victorian Live Act of the Year ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahey, Alex Australian rock singers Living people 1992 births 21st-century Australian singers Australian women singer-songwriters Musicians from Melbourne 21st-century women musicians Dead Oceans artists LGBT singers from Australia 21st-century LGBT people