On Friday, October 24, 2025, Lily Vakili performed at The Lilypad, an intimate venue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where murals cover every wall and seats fill every available space.
Vakili was delightfully anything but calm and quiet–carrying a liveliness and evident love for her work.
During her sound check, Vakili entertained a group of kids out trick-or-treating, asking each of them about their costumes in turn. Vakili loves smaller venues and unexpected moments like that, where “you just have to be ready for whatever comes your way,” she said.
After Berklee’s Holly Channell and Gabriel Maia's opening set, Vakili and her band began their performance with “Okoboji.”
The track also serves as the opener for Vakili’s new album, Oceans of Kansas, an ode to the places that have shaped her over the years and the memories they’ve inspired. The songs are perfectly suited for touring, creating a soundtrack for these unique experiences.
When asked about the album’s title, Vakili said, “[I] stopped at this museum in East Kansas. It was all about [how] millions of years ago, Kansas was an ocean. That just blew my mind… It was so poetic to me.”
As an opening track, “Okoboji” is high-energy and shows off Vakili’s killer vocals and talent for reminiscence that are evident through her discography and stage presence. The track itself is sultry and jazzy–a theme which Vakili carries throughout the album.
Before taking the stage, Vakili spoke about “Okoboji”: “I love that song. It takes me to a time in my teens. I had moved from Puerto Rico, where I had really grown up, to Iowa… I got there, and it was like I couldn’t breathe. While I was there, a boyfriend of mine took me to Lake Okoboji. It was really one of the first times where I could see what the song is about: that sense of freedom. For me, it was being by the water that reminded me of my own experience growing up by water.”
In the album’s track list, “Okoboji” is followed by “Hold On They Say,” a slower, more country-styled tune that melds perfectly with Vakili’s smooth vocals.
In the song, Vakili tries to decide between holding onto a possibly outdated dream or just letting it go, and whether or not to keep considering the opinions of others on her life. Vakili performed the track with a kind of deep emotion, taking off her wide-brimmed hat and placing it to the side for dramatic effect.
“I’ve Been Hiding” keeps the slower tempo of the previous track and turns the concept of travel on its head, presenting it as a form of running away. This song gives such an unmatched energy to the album, setting itself apart from nearly every other track.
Track four, “Maybe It’s All Over,” establishes its tone with its opening lines: “I waited for you to say you’re sorry/ I waited for you to change your ways.” Instead of moving forward this time, Vakili reflects on remaining in place..
Track six is “One Human Being,” the album’s last single and Vakili’s recent music video, released September 25. The song is a strong advocacy against the negative disruptions of humans on our planet, and the video emphasizes this with an animated setting changing focus to clips of fires, wars, and human-initiated violence.
The lyrics in this track are some of the best of the album, such as:
“Why do they do what they do? / Is it our fate to ruin the world? / How many penitents does it take to compensate for the things we do?/ The crimes of me and you/ What can one do?”
Numerous tracks on the album also portray Vakili's free spirit.
“April Fools” looks back on foolishly giving everything up for love, while “Rocket” and “Photograph,” the album’s midpoint, reflect on leaving someone behind. She does this in “Rocket” with the lyric “Tell me, did you make it to the moon?” and in “Photograph” with the song's chorus: “Saw you smilin’ in a photograph/ Guess I thought the happy would last.”
Vakili closes the album with "Tannersville," one final homage to all of the cities and places that shaped her. The last track is also one of the most daring, fast, and expressive, with some of Vakili’s best vocals.
Live, this is by far Vakili’s most powerful and captivating moment. She explained that multiple people had convinced her to take the track off the album, but she felt it was the perfect closer. The album wouldn’t feel the same without the emotional and creative onslaught that “Tannersville” provides.
Lily (presuming a first-name basis) tapped me on the shoulder and handed a copy of the album on vinyl, with a note attached reading, “thanks for the gab.”
Throughout the night, Vakili’s infectious energy and charisma transcended her musical performance, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of connection with the music, the venue, and the audience.
“Connection is huge,” she said. “Freedom of expression is essential in my life, and it’s becoming so clear to me how critical it is for everyone with a good heart, with dreams of community and hope, to have that ability to express themselves. I think that one pursues freedom in all kinds of different ways. You hope that those little connections somehow become something that each person can value.”
Vakili’s consistent values of community and expression make themselves ever-prominent in every aspect of her career, making her shows and the experience of listening to her music one of possibility, where chats with inspiring people, new ideas, and gifts from strangers are never off the table.
Lily Vakili’s new album, Oceans of Kansas, is available to stream here:
