Alt-Pop Singer-Songwriter Lyn Lapid Talks Her Freshly Released Debut Album 'BUZZKILL'
- Sabrina Shahryar
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Maryland native Lyn Lapid’s debut album, BUZZKILL, was released on April 25, 2025, via Mercury Records. The album consists of a twelve-song tracklist. Lyn will also be going on the BUZZKILL World Tour starting on May 6th in Berlin and will end on June 28th in Los Angeles.
We know that your new album BUZZKILL will delve into themes of loneliness, belonging, self-acceptance, and friendships. Has there been a song that has been most healing for you to write?
Lyn: There is one song on the album that I think was really healing because I felt like it was most like a diary entry for me to finish and put out. It’s "floater friend" on the album. That song is just about how I felt living in a new city. It kind of brought me back to my high school days, being the kid that nobody knew. Sitting alone at the lunch table every day for seven to nine months. I felt like it was reminiscent of those days because I remember morphing my personality and myself to fit into certain friend groups to fit in.
Was there any song in particular on BUZZKILL that was especially difficult to write because of the personal/vulnerable story behind the lyrics?
Lyn: I feel like there were two songs that were hard to write. Coincidentally, they’re the saddest songs on the album. One of them was "floater friend," and the one was "back up plan," and I was writing these songs as I was experiencing the things I was writing about in real time. Being that vulnerable about situations I was going through in a writing room with a co-writer and producer is scary and pretty challenging. Thankfully, I was able to work with co-writers and producers that I loved working with in the past. So I felt very safe to open up about my emotions and feelings about those situations I was going through. These two songs were especially difficult to write because they were centred around very close people in my life. Being that open and vulnerable was a bit challenging at first, but I knew writing these songs would be very healing in the end.
I love that the title track for your new album, BUZZKILL, is also the first track! What can you tell us about the meaning behind this title and its placement in the tracklist?
Lyn: I feel like when I was writing this album, my brain kept coming back to the word "buzzkill"l because living in a new city by myself and being around everything that was unfamiliar for a long time. I felt like everywhere I went, I was a buzzkill and brought the mood down. I was meeting so many people that I didn't quite click with, but I would hold onto them anyway for the sake of not being alone. I was unsure where I wanted to take the song sonically when we were writing it. I found it fun to take it in a more comedic way. I made light of all of these emotions that I was feeling and poked fun at them. I complain about being at a party with loud music I don't like and wearing clothes I think are weird just so I'm not alone. There’s a lyric in the bridge that goes, “I really want your pity invite just so I can say that I’d rather stay home.” I feel like painting that irony in the first track of the album kind of sets the mood. It's a bit of hypocrisy with me being the narrator. It was a really fun song to write.
What track on the album are you most excited for people to hear, or do you think will resonate most with people, and why?
Lyn: I feel like I’m excited for all the songs because they are part of a chronological story. Sonically, I’m excited for people to hear the last track of the album, "it doesn’t kill me anymore." I just remember having so much fun writing that song. I really enjoy being super extra with my vocal production on my songs. The producer that I was working with, Oak Felder and I, were in the booth for like three hours laying vocals on vocals on vocals. I just remember having a really fun time doing that. The song itself was really healing to write. It was the way I knew I wanted to wrap up the album. We did that in a very satisfying way. Sonically, it was really fun to make, and I think my fans and listeners will appreciate that as well.
With the BUZZKILL World Tour ahead, how are you thinking about translating the album’s emotional depth to a live setting?
Lyn: I feel like when I was writing the album, I had intentionally made all of the songs kind of focused on the key instruments in my band setup, which are bass, keys, drums, and guitar. So all of these songs have these instruments as the foreground of the instrumental. I just finished tour rehearsals and I feel like all of these songs translate so well live because of that. Having my band members live and pairing that with the vocal delivery, I waited so long to perform. I feel like that's how we delivered that emotional depth live.
What’s a city or venue that left an unexpected emotional mark on you, and did it influence your music?
Lyn: I really enjoy playing in San Francisco just because there's a huge Asian population. For some reason, they're just so loud and so present. Not to hate on LA, but usually how my tours go, we play San Francisco and then Los Angeles, and a lot of times I feel disappointed with LA as my last show. San Francisco just tops all the other cities for me with their energy. Especially because they have a Filipino population there as well. Being surrounded by so many people who are like me culturally is just really full circle and feels like a really big high five as a community.
You've previously had national headline tours, but you're about to start your first world tour. What are you most excited about? What do you anticipate about performing for audiences of different cultures?
Lyn: I’ve never been to Europe before, so just being there is really exciting for me and my band. Being around people who speak different languages will be really cool. I'm already learning ways to speak German for Berlin and Cologne, and Dutch for Amsterdam. I want to be as immersive as possible in my live shows. Immersing myself in their culture in that way, by learning a little bit of phrases in their language, will be a fun way to do that.
What message or feeling do you hope fans take away from your new album?
Lyn: I feel like this album as I was writing it, I was learning these life lessons. The title of the album BUZZKILL resonated with me so much. The beginning of the album illustrates that I felt like a buzzkill everywhere I went because I knew nobody in all these places I went. I realized I was fighting for so many people who didn't care about me, and I didn’t care about them. Letting go of the want to be liked by everybody was the moral of the album. That's why it's called BUZZKILL. I learned that yes, you are a buzzkill, and yeah, I felt like one with all these people, but I only felt like that with the wrong people. I just need to find that sense of community with the small circle of people that truly valued me in the same way I valued them.