After seven years outside of band life, Sydney indie rockers Letters to Lions found their reformation to be similar to “riding a bike that has a popped tyre at first.”
But that tyre must have been popped and ready for repair for a very good reason. Bowing to pressure from fans to get the band back together, Letters to Lions’s rebirth has been filled with huge momentum and highlights.
On the back of releasing their comeback EP, fittingly titled Seven Years, the band sold out 450 tickets across three Sydney comeback shows within just 24 hours of them being announced. They’ve also been featured on major Spotify playlists including New Music Friday in multiple regions amid a surge of interest in their back catalogue.
To celebrate their national headline tour, which kicked off last night (March 7th) in Melbourne, the band caught up with Tone Deaf to reflect on their successful rebirth (and check out their full tour dates below).
Tone Deaf: First of all, how good does it feel to be back after such a lengthy hiatus?!
Letters to Lions: It kinda doesn’t feel real! It’s been so bloody long but we are all so happy to be back.
What have you all been doing away from Letters to Lions over the past seven years?
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We’ve all been doing heaps in music and outside – when the band first broke up I think we all had to go our separate ways and lick our wounds and heal… we got jobs and started families, but I guess we couldn’t get away from this like we thought.
Did you feel pressure coming back? Or were you all just glad to be making music together again?
Yeah, it was kinda like riding a bike that has a popped tyre at first.
Did the connection come easy again as an ensemble? What were the first comeback recording
sessions like?
The recording sessions went really well… after such a long time we have a different approach to recording now. Before we would spend hours and weeks on the smallest part of a song trying to make it perfect. We get a lot of messages saying “write another song like ‘mushrooms’,” and it’s the furthest thing from it! The response to the tracks has been unreal considering the shift this EP has taken. The beauty about music is there’s no rules, and we like it….
Tell us about your Seven Years EP. What are these tracks about?
The songs are mostly about nostalgia… we started the band as teenagers and now as adults all in our 30’s we are writing about what it’s like to be looking back on those times.
How have fans taken to the EP?
So far so good! People are listening and enjoying them. I think it’s a bit of a shock for fans expecting to get a carbon copy of what we were doing 10 years ago but it’s great to see people are growing with us and getting around the newer sound.
Have you noticed a lot of new fans flocking to the band based on Seven Years?
Heaps of new fans! The last run of shows was mental, everyone knew all the words already.
It must have felt nice to have your Sydney comeback shows sell out within 24 hours. Did that confirm that your comeback was the correct call?
It felt really good actually. Yeah, wer’e back for good baby.
Are you looking forward to your AU/NZ tour? Any cities/venues you’re particularly excited to play? Have you played much in New Zealand before? Any local bands you all dig?
It’s going to be a ripper. It will be our first time in NZ and Adelaide so we are not too familiar with the venues. Keen to get amongst it all.
Letters to Lions 2025 Australia & New Zealand Tour
Details and tickets available at: linktr.ee/letterstolions
Saturday, March 8th
Crown & Anchor Hotel, Adelaide
Sunday, March 9th
Altar, Hobart
* Supporting Rum Jungle
Saturday, March 15th
Indian Ocean Hotel, Perth
Friday, March 21st
Landsdowne Hotel, Sydney
Saturday, April 5th
Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Thursday, April 24th
Whammy Bar, Auckland
Friday, April 25th
Meow, Wellington
Saturday, April 26th
Wunder Bar, Lyttelton
Sunday, April 27th
Crown Hotel, Dunedin
