Lady Lazarus | Bio
lady lazarus is the solo music project of melissa ann sweat...
a singer-songwriter, artist, and creative writer, who has earned significant acclaim for her singular brand of spirited and enchanting dream folk-pop and minimalist folk. Her 2026 release finds her music maturing into a distinctive, sophisticated Americana sound.
Since her first album, Mantic, in 2011, Lady Lazarus has been receiving accolades and attention from leading music outlets such as Pitchfork, NPR, Consequence, SPIN, and many more. Lady Lazarus’ musical influences include Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Van Morrison, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Bruce Springsteen, among others; she has also garnered comparisons to Cat Power, Grouper, Regina Spektor, Daniel Johnston, Erik Satie, and Philip Glass.
In 2013, while living in Los Angeles, Lady Lazarus self-released her second album, All My Love In Half Light, to wide acclaim, including an LA Weekly feature, 7.8 album review from Pitchfork, SPIN track premiere, NPR music video premiere, and more. A highlight of the year was opening for Youth Lagoon on two nights—one at the historic El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.
Just before moving to the desert town of Joshua Tree, California in January 2014, Lady Lazarus recorded songs for her next album, Miracles, almost entirely on baby grand piano and for the first time in a professional studio, L.A.’s Pacifica Studios. The album features instrumentation by producer, engineer, and award-winning songwriter John Keller, and orchestral percussion by Gary Mallaber (Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Miller Band). Later that year in May, All My Love In Half Light was re-released worldwide on vinyl, CD, and digital by LebensStrasse Records, garnering new accolades from Fader, Clash Magazine, BBC Radio 6, Stereogum, and Impose Magazine.
On March 3, 2015, Lady Lazarus self-released, Miracles, her third album, receiving a debut in The New York Times’ former Press Play feature for “noteworthy new music,” as well as praise from numerous publications—Magnet Magazine, Clash, Diffuser, and other tastemakers like Consequence, which called it, “the best album of her career so far.”
Her latest, Impossible Journey Of My Soul Tonight, was released on October 18, 2019 to acclaim from Pitchfork, Uproxx, Impose Magazine, The Big Takeover, Week in Pop, Atwood Magazine, and more. Pitchfork commended the album with a 7.0 rating, describing it as “a searching work of elemental folk minimalism.”
Originally from San Jose, California, Melissa Ann Sweat has lived and toured throughout the U.S., playing notable musical festivals, such as CMJ, Savannah Stopover, Left Coast Live, and Noise Pop. She currently lives in Sacramento, where she is putting down roots.
