With a brand‑new, full‑band version of the single “Tannersville,” Lily Vakili announces the first leg of a tour in support of her upcoming album, Oceans of Kansas. Releasing October 17, 2025, Oceans of Kansas is Vakili’s most intimate, collaborative, and expansive work yet: a collection shaped by lived experience, artistic risk, and restless curiosity. It’s music born not of image or pretense, but of will—a record that embraces improvisation, vulnerability, and the raw pleasure of creation.
Last summer, Vakili went into the GRAMMY Award‑winning recording studio Second Take Sound in New York City with producer/engineer Reed Turchi, a collaboration that first resulted in the acoustic Tannersville EP and grew into the full‑length album Oceans of Kansas. On the road in the fall of 2024 in support of the EP, Vakili found inspiration for what would ultimately become the new album and a new era for her artistry, signaled by a return to using her own name, Lily Vakili (rather than Vakili Band), for her musical explorations. At the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, standing in front of an exhibit on the prehistoric inland sea that once covered the Great Plains, Vakili felt the weight and wonder of time collapse: “I understood something,” she reflects, “that I am the archivist, the archaeologist, of my own life.” The album draws on that revelation, honoring what’s been unearthed, what’s been lost, and what’s still surfacing. As Vakili puts it, “Everything is fleeting, everything is here.”
The songs on Oceans of Kansas are, as Vakili calls them, her “orphan songs”: melodies she couldn’t let go of, lyrics that stayed with her long after others faded. “For whatever reason, these songs didn’t stick before, but I would not give up on them because I know they’re compelling,” she shares. Sonically, the album is as sweeping and unpredictable as its namesake: blues‑soaked guitar riffs crash against delicate ballads, fiery rock anthems surge alongside hushed, intimate confessionals, and strikingly seductive bossa‑nova rhythms. Vakili’s voice moves effortlessly between grit and grace, roaring with ferocity one moment and whispering with vulnerability the next. Vakili closes the album with “Tannersville,” a dramatic anthem whose energy is immediately unleashed through a bold and brash guitar solo by Eric Burns. Earnest and unfiltered, the track honors the courage it takes to stay true to yourself, to your friends, to the moments that define who you are.
“Years ago, friends invited me up to their place outside of Tannersville, NY. I’ve returned many times, and during the summer, one recurring image is people climbing down to and playing in the rock‑strewn rivers that run through the mountains,” Vakili recalls. “Each time I visited, I saw groups of friends—mostly pretty young—doing the things that young people do, that I did too: riding in cars, taking corners too fast and wide, imbibing, smoking, laughing, and feeling nothing could change us. Some images that stay with me require a song, and this was one of them. The bluster and camaraderie of a group of friends may or may not mask the knowledge that time will and does change us. Still, it’s essential to push back and stake a claim to a way of being, even knowing it can’t last.” PRE‑SAVE / STREAM HERE.
At its core, Oceans of Kansas is an ode to resilience, honesty, and human connection—a record that invites listeners to stand in their own truths, to honor their histories, and to keep moving forward with open eyes and open hearts. It’s not about perfection or polish; it’s about showing up fully, embracing the mess, and making something that feels alive.
There may no longer be an ocean in Kansas, but with her latest album, Lily Vakili rises with a tidal force—flooding the soul with raw feeling, intimate stories, and uncompromising sound. It’s a soundtrack for living boldly, feeling deeply, and refusing to be anything but yourself.
“Tannersville” is out on July 17, 2025, continuing to build anticipation for Oceans of Kansas’ release on October 17, 2025. Lily Vakili will be on tour this fall in support of the new album.
