by Riley Coyne ’24 on November 9, 2023
Arts & Entertainment
In 2014, what started out as just a casual night out for two guys in Nashville ended with the formation of an indie pop-rock group, LANY, that is now well-known and beloved. The lead singer is Paul Jason Klein and the main guitarist is Jake Clifford Goss. These two are the main contributors to the group, and while various others fill in on drums and bass when performing, it is ultimately this duo that writes a majority of LANY’s songs together.
When LANY first gained popularity, spectators and fans of the band wondered: where did the name LANY come from? Klein responded in an interview that it was based on something he and fellow bandmates had in common at the time; they had lived on both the East Coast and the West Coast at some point in their lives, residing in Los Angeles (LA) and New York (NY).
LANY achieved their first breakout hit in 2017 for their song “ILYSB,” an acronym for “I love you so bad.”. This is a common theme throughout LANY’s discography, as there are multiple songs in which acronyms are used for their song titles. ILYSB reached over 100,000 streams. After the release of their album Malibu Nights in 2018, the band started getting the most traction of their career. Some of my personal favorite songs from this album are “Thru These Tears” and “Thick and Thin.” Since then, they’ve released many more projects, as well as collaborated with other musicians such as Kelsea Ballerini, Lauv, Bazzi and Julia Michaels. Their single with Kelsea Ballerini, “I Quit Drinking,” is one of their most played songs and spent many weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
On Sept. 29, they released their newest project, their fifth studio album titled a beautiful blur with feel good love song “XXL” being the lead single. This album is very important since it is their first album released independently. In 2021 they fulfilled their contract with Universal Interscope Records and decided to be wholly independent. In an interview with Hypebeast, Klein explained that “being independent allows us to make really quick, creative decisions and then act upon them almost immediately.”
While they may not be a household name yet, the talent and passion behind LANY’s music is very apparent, especially when they are performing. They plan to continue doing what they love on their world tour, their next stop being Europe.