Leyya

Leyya are back.
A sentence that blinks into motion. With their new album Half Asleep, the indie pop band consisting of Sophie Lindinger (she/ her) and Marco Kleebauer (he/ him) shows a new kind of honesty and openness circulating between digital and analog, within half-states. With Half Asleep, the band shares their experience how healing it can be to return to oneself.
But first back to square one, or at least re-turn: What began in 2010 as a small pebble rolling between the soles of shoes on the asphalt of a garage on the suburban countryside of Upper Austria, quickly developed into a self-runner. In the years that followed, a collaborative duo project emerged through exchange and process and with it what was still more or less uncharted territory in the Austrian music scene in the 2010s: Electropop. Soft, melodic vocals collide with hard electro beats, concept and chaos blur, supposed opposites harmonize. With Superego (2015), Leyya soon wins over an international audience; from then on, everything happens very fast: the debut album Spanish Disco (2016) is followed by Sauna (2018) an UK Music Video Award (2018) and countless placements of their music in commercials, trailers and films worldwide (e.g., Netflix, HBO). And in between, Leyya became the first Austrian band among the top 10 most booked newcomers in the European Talent Exchange Programs ETEP's annual list. The duo tours excessively, plays everything from small to large festivals and is highly praised by critics. Save to say: Leyya made it, international success: check.
Almost exactly a decade has passed since Sophie Lindinger and Marco Kleebauer first appeared on the Viennese independent scene - an environment that they would not only conquer but also define in the years to come. Both went on to become award-winning producers and songwriters on a national and international level. Sophie founds the rock band My Ugly Clementine, with which she was the first Austrian band to win the IMPALA Award 2020 and was honoured with several Amadeus Austrian Music Awards. In 2023, Sophie releases her self-produced solo debut album. Marco too pursues parallel projects, produces for Bilderbuch or Faber and is part of the band Sharktank, whose genre-crossover has pushed boundaries, achieving international success. Marco also produces solo and supports »Musiker ohne Grenzen« by selling self-produced drum samples.
In 2021 Leyya release their EP Longest Day of my Life, addressing depression, melancholy and mental overload, followed by the double single Someone / Fix it (2022), including the announcement that the band would no longer be playing concerts, at least for the time being. What might initially suggest a negative tone is, on closer consideration, the exact opposite: “We've finally found ourselves again and it feels right,” says the duo and produces almost an entire album within a week. Leyya are back.

Leyya’s third album Half Asleep is out on August 30. It will be released on double vinyl and all digital platforms.