Edit history

‘Never thought I’d end up living down in Hollywood, no I never thought I would’ Mountain Lion – George Byrne Hollywood Lights is the third album from Sydney-born George Byrne, and the first album since he relocated to Los Angeles where he has established himself as a renowned photographic artist. Many of the songs written for Hollywood Lights took shape as Byrne first arrived in the City of Angels, looking for new inspiration following an aborted major label dalliance. Creating Hollywood Lights allowed Byrne to reconnect with his original song-based artform following a decade-long, head-first immersion into the visual arts. And we, as listeners, are all the richer for the texture that has brought to his oeuvre. Byrne now brings his cinematic eye and painterly sensibility into his sonic world. Hollywood Lights captures the pastel tones, space and quiet intensity of his visual language, layering atmospheric production with lyrical storytelling. Just as his photographs reframe the ordinary into something transcendent, Byrne’s music invites listeners to step into a dreamlike space where melody and landscape intertwine. Byrne’s songs sound like idyllic first love. But we don’t know if it’s Sydney or L.A of which he sings. Lanky bodies sprawled on decks and docks, sandy beaches, mossy-kneed denim after a tumble with a crush and jumping in the back of your friend’s truck after the team wins a big game. Each track on the album exists as a glimmering moment; of escape, yearning for a past time, or sweet, sun-drenched future. Everything is perfect, or it could be. His eyes often sting, and the world is complicated. Landscapes shift and intertwine. The palm trees of his adopted hometown of L.A. glint and sway, and the white sands of Sydney’s Bondi Beach are underfoot. These ideas were bought to life by producers and mixing engineers on both sides of the Pacific including Al Sgro, Alex Elena, Nic Jons and ARIA winner Wayne Connolly. Byrne knows how to get what he wants out of the studio and can bend genres to suit his needs and will. He loves to build complex narratives with his catchy-to-earworm lyrics and shifting musical styles. While much of the sound is a lush country-tinged pop or Americana, he can’t hide his soft spot for Dinosaur Jr and Stephen Malkmus, as well as the heavy romance of Tears for Fears, Pink Floyd, the great troubadours and even some 80s L.A. glam ballads. The new single from the album “She’s Everywhere” will be released on 12 September 2025, and the album “Hollywood Lights” will be available to listeners on 7 November 2025. For more information or interview requests please contact Troy Barrott (troy@cornersoul.com.au)