{"id":74346,"date":"2026-10-06T13:42:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/06\/lennon-stella-on-new-album-nashville-nick-drake\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:42:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:42:35","slug":"lennon-stella-on-new-album-nashville-nick-drake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/06\/lennon-stella-on-new-album-nashville-nick-drake\/","title":{"rendered":"Lennon Stella on New Album, ‘Nashville,’ Nick Drake"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tLennon Stella<\/a> knows it\u2019s been a while since she released new music \u2014 six years to be exact. But the 27-year-old songwriter needed time to relax and unwind. Or, as she puts it, slow the hell down. \u201cI had taken some time for the first time, really in my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI had been going since I was a kid. I definitely just wanted to be super intentional. The songs themselves kind of flew out, but the production, that took longer.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe result is the enchanting Sleeping Lion<\/em>, her new album out Oct. 23. It was worth the wait: the album, produced by Andy Shauf, features 12 autumnal folk gems best heard alone in your living room, with Stella delivering a raw and intimate perspective on relationships within her life. \u201cMy goal was really just to honor the songs and capture the essence of them,\u201d she says. \u201cUltimately, I just wanted to make something that was very true and honest, and not let a lot of other things get in there \u2014 minds and opinions and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Studio<\/a>, Stella goes deep on her new album, detailing the six years it took her to get here. She also reveals the musicians who inspired it, from overlooked visionaries like Nick Drake and Connie Converse to contemporary rock stars like Geese\u2019s Cameron Winter. Here are some highlights from the discussion.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u2018Comedy Show\u2019 Was Born From a Guitar Swap\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\u201cThis one was very natural and kind of fell out,\u201d she says of the delicate album opener, which she recently released as a single. \u201cI actually had left my guitar a couple days prior at a different studio, and someone came to drop off my guitar that I left, and they swapped it with somebody else\u2019s. So I had this guitar that wasn\u2019t mine, and it actually came with the guitar part in it, and I just started playing it. I was like, \u2018Oh, this sounds nice!\u2019 And then I went a couple hours later to a session and wrote \u2018Comedy Show\u2019. So I feel like there was a nice synergy to that one. The song itself was written from a fairly low place \u2014 a heavier one for sure \u2014 a song that doesn\u2019t really have a bow tie or a silver lining. I wasn\u2019t feeling great. But yeah, it was a very natural one to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\tAn Original Version of the Album Was Scrapped<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\u201cI had written all the songs and I went in originally to produce them all with a band and another producer,\u201d Stellan explains. \u201cEverything sounded great, and we spent a long time on it, but we just got to the end and I felt like it wasn\u2019t a hundred percent correct. And it felt silly after that much time, to put something out that didn\u2019t feel like every fiber of my being is in this. I honestly think that somebody accidentally whispered that to me, that we could start again. And I was like, \u2018Sorry, that\u2019s a possibility?\u2019 So I took that and I ran with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was around this time that Stella serendipitously linked up with Shauf. \u201cI was in this very in-between period not knowing who to do it with,\u201d she says. \u201cI knew I wanted to keep all the same songs, but try it again and produce them in a different way. And literally in this very weird liminal space, Andy Shauf\u2019s team reached out to mine and was like, \u2018Andy\u2019s looking to produce for other artists.\u2019 I was like, \u2018If I knew that, he would be my choice, my absolute pick of the litter.\u2019 His records have been such a huge part of my life. So it was very magical timing, and it just made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\u2018Smartest Person in the Room\u2019 Is About a Mansplainer\u00a0\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tOne of the album highlights is a sparkly upbeat track that Stella co-wrote with Ethan Gruska and her longtime collaborator Simon Wilcox. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely the lighter of the bunch,\u201d Stella explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a mansplainy person that just likes to hear themselves talk and wants to be on the microphone all the time. And I feel like we\u2019ve all been in the corner of that, where somebody is speaking to prove something to themselves. You\u2019re being used in that moment. They\u2019re not talking to you, and you\u2019re irrelevant, and you\u2019re actually the prop. That song was almost a lighthearted jab, but also in a very real way. There\u2019s a lot of those around, and I think at some point it\u2019s not fun to be around anymore. So yeah, that\u2019s one of my favorites on the record for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\tThe Album Cover Was Shot in Her Bathroom\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tThe album cover, shot by Adam Alonzo, features Stella underneath the amber glow of a lamp, standing in her bathroom. \u201cThat was a lamp that I got at the Rose Bowl [Flea Market],\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to shoot all of the photos in my house. It\u2019s going with the record, feeling warm and cozy and intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tShe Doesn\u2019t Revisit Her Early YouTube Videos\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tStella and her sister Maisy started out as the country duo Lennon & Stella, which landed them roles on Nashville<\/em>. But they also found success in the early days of YouTube, like their cover of Robyn\u2019s \u201cCall Your Girlfriend,\u201d which they performed while using plastic cups as percussion. The video went viral, and currently has 31 million views<\/a>. Does Stella ever revisit these videos? \u201cOh, never,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cJust never. That was such a whirlwind of experience. But it also happened to be right as Nashville.<\/em>.. I mean, that\u2019s too long of a story to even get into, but they helped each other. That helped us get our visas to be on the show. That YouTube video was pivotal for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\tShe\u2019s Inspired by Overlooked Folk Artists\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\u201cI noticed a theme in the people that I\u2019ve been listening to when I was making the record, and also just now,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of the people that I\u2019m drawn to are artists that didn\u2019t get recognition at their time.\u201d She cites Nick Drake<\/a> (specifically the title track to his 1972 masterpiece Pink Moon<\/em>), his mother Molly<\/a> \u2014 a musician in her own right \u2014 and the mysterious singer-songwriter Connie Converse<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a purity about those people that I\u2019m really drawn to, and it really centers me,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I listen, I feel really grounded. And honestly, it brings me to a very kid place, when I was making music for true, true, true love of it. Nobody\u2019s hearing it, just me and a guitar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\tShe\u2019s a Big Fan of Cameron Winter\u00a0\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tStella also cites Heavy Metal<\/em>, the 2024 solo debut from Geese\u2019s Cameron Winter<\/a>, as a huge inspiration. \u201cI love, love, love that record,\u201d she says. \u201cThat came out right before I was going in to re-record the record. And it re-inspired me. I was like, \u2018Oh, this is so true and so pure and really exciting that this is being made right now.\u2019 And then it started getting so much traction. I was like, \u2018This makes sense.\u2019 It\u2019s a perfect record.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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