Debut EP from Lily Franc

Dutch singer-songwriter Lily Franc is building a musical world where storytelling, melody and emotion sit alongside one another. Blending indie pop, country pop and folk influences with cinematic violin arrangements, her songs explore emotion, determination and hope through character-driven tales and memorable melodies. Already attracting recognition from leading music institutions, Lily is rising as an exciting new voice in Dutch pop, with a sound that feels at once carefully crafted and profoundly personal.

Her journey has been influenced by music from an early age; classically trained on violin since she was five, Lily has won multiple awards before turning her attention towards songwriting at sixteen. The instrument remains central to her artistic vision, stitched throughout her productions as a recognisable musical signature. Alongside that classical background, she’s developed a songwriting style that can move between different genres and emotional perspectives.

Lily studied at the Young Pop Academy at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam, won first prize in the music category at Kunstbende Overijssel in 2023 and took part in Metropool’s Songmidse talent development programme in 2025. For the 2026–2027 academic year, she was also awarded the Universal Voice Institute’s fully funded study place, an honour presented to just one singer each year.

Now, at 21, Lily introduces The Fitting Room, her debut EP and a six-track outing built around the complicated process of growing up. Bringing together indie pop, country pop and folk with touches of Broadway, funk and her signature violin arrangements, the record views adulthood through a series of interconnected character studies. At the centre of The Fitting Room is a deceptively simple metaphor, framing a fitting room as somewhere to try things on, assess what feels right and decide what should stay behind. Lily transforms that familiar setting into a space for examining the expectations attached to success, love, relationships and identity.

By not asking listeners to define who they’re becoming, the EP encourages them to consider which versions of themselves they no longer need to pretend to be. Each song represents someone confronting something that no longer fits, whether that’s an expectation, relationship, fantasy or former version of themselves. The opening track, “burnt out gifted kids club,” introduces the EP through an empathetic portrait of a young woman whose sense of identity has become tied to achievement.

“fun sponge” follows and brings playful funk influences into a sharp examination of the pressure to appear emotionally detached, showing Lily’s ability to balance lighter musical touches with more complicated emotional ideas. “under the weather” moves into unresolved heartbreak, exploring the emotional distance sometimes needed to genuinely move forward while “old leather jacket” initially appears to tell a story of unrequited love before developing into something more concerned with acceptance and self-worth.

On “soldier,” Lily examines emotional equality within relationships, focusing on the importance of supporting another person without allowing that support to come at the expense of your own identity. The record’s final track, “for old times sake,” provides its emotional resolution and while nostalgia remains important, the song recognises that honouring the past doesn’t mean allowing it to dictate what comes next. It completes the EP’s wid movement from looking at what once defined us towards understanding what we are prepared to leave behind.

There are no simple villains in these stories, only individuals trying to work out what belongs to them and what’s been placed upon them. With her violin acting as a constant thread through the record, Lily Franc maps out a sound that’s thoughtful, emotionally honest and unafraid to look closely at the uncomfortable parts of becoming an adult. The fitting room, after all, is not somewhere you\re meant to stay, it’s where you decide what you’re taking with you when you leave.

Listen to The Fitting Room below