Lyra: ‘She really showed me that you can be this powerful woman, but you can also be a very kind, gentle soul’

GROWING UP, Lyra was always singing. But once she started writing her own music, everything changed - she had to “give this a go”. To prove she was taking things seriously, she wrote a song for her nan.

“I wrote a song for her, which was simply to express to her that I wasn’t going to be down in the pubs just singing, I was going to be a singer-songwriter. I wrote a song, put it up online and it created a lot of attention and actually got synced to a few TV series,” says Lyra the morning after a show.

It’s the first time the singer-songwriter took herself seriously. With Emerald, she made her debut in 2016 - a song released shortly before her grandmother died.

“She was so amazing. It’s hard to explain her. She was the softest woman you would ever meet, so full of love. But also, a very powerful woman, which, is just so beautiful,” says Lyra.

“Growing up with her, it was just different. She really showed me that you can be this powerful woman, but you can also be a very kind, gentle soul. I suppose you think power is aggressive and it's in your face, but it's not, it doesn't have to be. And she was the proof of that.”

The Cork native released her debut album, self-titled Lyra in April. Song after song, listeners can discover parts of her that they might not see on social media.

“There’s the heartbreak Lyra, the party Lyra that went to LA for a short spell of time. You’re going to hear about the girl who came out of the breakup and found her independence again, found that she’s okay on her own. You'll hear about the girl who is angry about how the breakup ended, you'll find about the girl who found love again,” she explains.

“You're going to hear a lot about me and find out a lot about me, which is why I suppose I love writing my songs from the heart and from my experiences because I really like the audience and the fans to get to know me. I think it is a very important part of an artist to let people who invest in you in and show them sides that you don't get to see on social media.”

Earlier this year, Lyra released ‘Drink Me Up’, a song she wrote after a one-night stand in Los Angeles.

“I don't know who I thought I was. I was having an out-of-body experience because I’d never been to LA before in my life,” she laughs. "It was just really good fun. I think it was the first time I was single in a long time, and I just wanted to enjoy my life. So you're going to hear about her. You’re going to hear about the girl who came out of the breakup and found her independence again.”

When she went through heartbreak, it took Lyra a few months to be able to write about it. There is an advice she heard once too many times, but now agrees with, looking back.

“Everyone said it to me when I was going through it and I was like, ‘Stop saying that to me, it's not helping me right now’. But looking back, ‘Time is the healer’. And although you probably don't want to hear anyone say that to you now because you're going through the hurt, it does ease off.

“Heartbreak comes in waves and after a while, things do get a bit easier. I definitely wallowed for a bit, I'm an extremely emotional person. When I did go through it, I gave myself time to go through the process. I had been in a long relationship and it wasn't my choice to come out of it. I was heartbroken the way it ended,” she says.

Once she puts things to paper and get her emotions out, it helps her process.

“It feels like I'm closing that chapter for now. I think that's a process that we all need to go through. We have to be kind to ourselves and don't beat ourselves up too much about it and try to move on.”

Now, the artist has found love again. Even though it was “kind of love at first sight”, she prefers to believe love stands the test of time.

“The person could look like David Beckham, but if they don't have a good personality, I’m not going there. For me, that true connection of love does develop over time because you get to know that person. That to me is worth its weight in gold, what stands the test of time, that’s what I want for the rest of my life.”

Although all of her family is very supportive of her work, she says her sister is her biggest fan. And whenever the old imposter syndrome kicks in, she is there to remind her of how far she has come.

“She has massively helped me to get to where I am. When I do get extremely nervous before I go on stage or if I start doubting myself at any point in my career or feel like I'm not good enough to be here, she is the one that says to me, ‘No, you’ve worked hard. You're good enough to be here’. She really has helped me stay in the music industry and stay true to myself and become the artist that I've become today.”

If there is one thing Lyra could change about the music industry, it would be going back to the “roots of art”, when social media was not as prominent as it is today. Nowadays, she feels like the music isn’t as important as social media presence.

“I wish that it wasn't all so obsessed with figures, follows, likes and viral videos. I wish it all went back to the roots of music, to the roots of art. I do feel like we've started turning a corner where the art isn't as important as your social media presence.

“I miss the time of Adele and Amy Winehouse where talent was talent and if you were good enough you'd make it.”

With her new album, the Cork native lets her guard down with a vulnerability that can be scary, but everything has led her to this moment.

“I let myself explore a bit more than I actually thought that I would, if I'm honest. I let my guard down a bit and I tried out new things and tested boundaries. It's nerve wracking, I’m not gonna lie. It's scary, but it does make me feel like I'm finally an artist. I know that sounds weird because I have been releasing songs for a while, but everything has been building up to this album,” she says.

While writing songs helps her to process, releasing them into the world also helps others. The artist remembers one special moment that she will never forget, perhaps her most striking fan encounter so far.

“There was a girl that I met at a show. She came by on stage with her mom and I had released 29 Box, which is about the pressures of social media, looking a certain way and feeling like you're not accepted unless you're in this certain box. She had been going through an extremely hard time with online bullying and was in a very dark place. She thanked me for bringing out the song and it was a very special moment. It made me realise the power of telling the truth in my songs and showing people the more vulnerable side of me.”