Alex Lahey announces expanded edition of The Answer Is Always Yes

"Newsreader", which was co-written with Christian Lee Hutson and Jenny Owen Youngs during the sessions for The Answer Is Always Yes. The track finds Lahey opining the state of the world and the heavy burden on those who report it, even featuring a guest turn from Australian news reporter Tamara Oudyn on backing vocals.

"I remember having the news on at home one night and watching the newsreader broadcast one awful story after another and it got me thinking about the emotional toll it must take on someone to literally be the bearer of bad news to an entire population night after night, day after day," Lahey explains. "The newsreader that inspired this song, Tamara Oudyn of the ABC 7pm News Report, was the seemingly omnipresent newsreader in my household at the time this song was written. It turned out that there were only a degree or two of separation between Tam and I - next thing you know, Tam popped into the studio and laid down some BVs on this track."

"Newsreader" is joined on the expanded edition of The Answer Is Always Yes by a further two new cuts from Lahey on "When the Rain Comes Down", which was written during the sessions for the album alongside Jenny Owen Youngs and Jess Abbott, and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", a newer addition written in LA last year with Christian Lee Hutson and Paul Cherry.

By the time the expanded edition is released, Lahey will be in the thick of her first full band UK and EU tour in support of The Answer Is Alway Yes. The shows will take her through Austria, Germany and the Netherlands before landing in the UK for dates that include a sold-out show at Manchester's Eagle Inn, an appearance at Live At Leeds festival, a headline date at London's Oslo on 11 October, and further stops in Brighton, Glasgow and Birmingham.