Canadian singer/songwriter LILY MONAGHAN returns today with “Mona Lisa,” the first preview of sophomore 2025 release
After making a strong first impression in early 2023 with her debut EP Introspection, Lily Monaghan returns today with the gorgeously intimate new single “Mona Lisa,” the first preview of her next release slated for 2025.
Although “Mona Lisa” is simply arranged around Lily’s voice and acoustic guitar — with support from fellow rising Canadian folk duo Jed & The Valentine — it displays her increasing maturity as a songwriter, presenting a deeply poetic exploration of how we perceive beauty and aging.
“I wrote ‘Mona Lisa’ in my head while I was walking around the Louvre in Paris back in 2022,” Lily explains. “There was something about being packed sardine-style in a room of people lining up to get a zoomed-in photo of a painting of a woman that for me became an eerily accurate representation of modern society and its values.
“It made me think of the emphasis that is placed on the desire for fame, beauty, and youth. Why does a life seem to have less value if it is one of aging, mundanity, and anonymity? ‘Mona Lisa’ came out of these questions I asked myself, and wondering if Mona Lisa herself could have known she would be eternally objectified as a famous depiction of youth and beauty.”
Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Lily quickly established a presence on the local music scene with her initial singles in 2022, which showed her ability to seamlessly blur the lines between folk, country, soul, and pop. Citing a range of influences from Feist and Florence Welch to Stevie Nicks and Gord Downie, Lily’s emphasis on lyrics has set her apart from many of her peers.
While Introspection featured several Taylor Swift-level break-up songs, her writing has been moving into new territory as she experiences more of the world first-hand. “Mona Lisa” is the first taste of how that evolution is unfolding, and it makes a clear statement that Lily Monaghan is poised to become one of the voices leading the new generation of great Canadian singer-songwriters.