Lillian Leadbetter - State of Romance (2023) Hi Res

Growing up amid Vermont’s picturesque Green Mountains, where the Appalachian trail rises toward Maine and Canada, singer, songwriter, poet and multimedia artist Lillian Leadbetter forged a close relationship with her lush surroundings. She spent her childhood listening to whispering trees and songbird serenades, and learned to sing by accompanying her father as he strummed the guitar he received as a gift celebrating her birth. Those influences became the foundation of her creativity, now flowering in the form of her debut album, State of Romance. Leadbetter will release the album on Oct. 13, 2023.

From melodies sung in her gentle, expressive voice to layered, chorale-like soundscapes evoking those forest symphonies, State of Romance examines, well, states of romance, along with other matters of the heart.

“State of Romance is a vignette from a time when I was hurting, learning, healing and growing toward myself, with heartbreak as my guide,” says Leadbetter. “From the end of one heartbreak to the beginning of another, I learned to embrace beauty at every turn. I began to expand my definition of romance beyond the conventional. ‘Romance’ became so much more; it became my way of life.”

Leadbetter wrote the album’s first single, “Sophia,” as a last-minute birthday present to a long-distance friend. With imagery as lovely as a Renoir painting, she sings, My dear friend lives in Paris / Overlooking the Seine / And she writes me love letters every now and again / In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower / In the gardens at the Louvre / I can see her walking now under a pale crescent moon.

Though State of Romance is her first recording, Leadbetter, who now splits her time between Burlington and Nashville, Tenn., has been creating and performing her own music for a decade. She studied at Berklee College of Music before earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and music from the University of Vermont. Citing influences from Anaïs Mitchell and Josh Ritter to Lana Del Ray and Phoebe Bridgers, she’s creating a sound that’s already drawing notice.

When the MusicMecca website debuted her single, “American Sweetheart,” in June, writer Kaninika Dey observed, “Leadbetter’s ability to evoke empathy through her lyrics is remarkable, allowing listeners to connect on a personal level with the story being told. It deserves mention for its captivating musicality, relatability and thought-provoking narrative.”