VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast / Ep. 45 - Everybody Loves Lucius

September 22, 2025

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VERSED is a monthly podcast illuminating the heart and soul of music. Featuring in-depth interviews with songwriters and composers, plus tips and insights to help you navigate your music career. Brought to you by ASCAP, home of the world's greatest music creators.

Lucius, the Grammy-nominated indie-pop quartet led by Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, have been crafting innovative, exciting and absolutely otherworldly music for nearly 20 years. Driven by Holly and Jess’s intricately-blended vocals and backed by masterful musicians, drummer Dan Molad and guitarist Peter Lalish, Lucius’s songs deliver provocative and soulful journeys into the human heart, all set in soundscapes that are by turns edgy and cinematic.

On the heels of releasing their fourth studio album, a self-titled work that is their most personal and purposeful work to date, and which Rolling Stone calls “The best album of their career,” Holly and Jess took a break from their 2025 Gold Rush Tour to talk to VERSED about their roots, the art of collaboration and harmonizing and how their long-enduring friendship and partnership has carried them through music-making, motherhood and more.

We also share insights from singer-songwriter Alex Warren’s appearance at the 2023 ASCAP Experience in LA that set him up for success with “Ordinary,” Billboard’s 2025 Song of the Summer.

EP. 45 FEATURED INTERVIEWEE: LUCIUS

Grammy-nominated indie-pop band Lucius released their highly anticipated new self-titled album May 2 via Fantasy Records – their most personal and purposeful work to date. Their fourth studio album, Lucius finds the band returning to their roots with 11 new songs written and recorded without seeking outside influence – their first time doing so since their 2013 debut. Produced by band member Dan Molad, the record explores topics such as relationships, grief and life’s complexities, with a unique vulnerability only made possible due the familial nature of the band. Released to widespread critical acclaim, Rolling Stone calls it “The best album of their career,” and The New Yorker praises "The band’s new self-titled album reaches the pinnacle of a vibrant, harmonic enterprise," while Paste declares “in the versatility of these new songs…it’s clear that their homecoming is a party you’ll want to RSVP to” and The A.V. Club proclaims "You can hear the emotional and physical growth on this record – the sound of a band confidently evolving and starting a new chapter."

Known for their engaging live performances, Lucius has been featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, PBS's Austin City Limits and The Kelly Clarkson Show and has toured across the world. The group just kicked off their extensive Gold Rush Tour, which includes upcoming stops in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and many more, in addition to joining Mumford & Sons for select shows later this year. Throughout their acclaimed career, Lucius’s Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe have also become some of the most sought-after collaborators in popular music due to their “otherworldly” vocals (Los Angeles Times). The duo has recorded and performed with artists such as Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile, John Legend, The Killers and Harry Styles, including appearances on the Grammy stage and NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Lucius is Laessig, Wolfe, Molad and Peter Lalish.

+ Visit Lucius online: www.ilovelucius.com

+ Watch Lucius playing three songs from their latest album inside an abandoned gold mine in Colorado.

EP. 45 SPECIAL GUEST: ALEX WARREN

Burgeoning pop artist Alex Warren is one of 2025’s breakout stars worldwide. Now boasting an impressive over 2.4B total career streams and over 53M monthly listeners on Spotify, his hit single “Ordinary,” released in February, is taking over the world. With over 1 billion streams and counting, the song reigns at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 songs chart and the Global 200 Ex US. It is also #1 at Top 40 Radio and Hot AC Radio, currently holding the largest radio audience. The track has also just reached its 13th week at #1 on the UK songs chart. Alex has delivered soul-bearing performances of the track, making his award show debut at the 2025 American Music Awards, his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing an acoustic rendition with Ed Sheeran in an underplay at Coachella, and joining Jelly Roll during Stagecoach.

Adding to his accolades, Alex was named Billboard’s January Chartbreaker with his track “Burning Down” with Joe Jonas joining for a reimagined version. The single marked Alex’s first time breaking onto the Billboard Hot 100, has now amassed over 185 million streams, and reached #1 on the global charts in eight countries. He follows his record-breaking success with live shows as he recently wrapped his sold-out, headlining Cheaper Than Therapy Global Tour, hitting 47 cities across Europe and North America. He extended the tour to add 15 more shows later this summer.

In 2024, Warren released his acclaimed full-length debut album, You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1), which instantly skyrocketed onto charts around the world. The album is further highlighted by Warren’s global success with another standout track, “Carry You Home,” which has garnered nearly half a billion streams worldwide. Known for his vulnerable pop melodies, passionate vocals and lyrical candor, Warren has won over fans with these deeply personal singles. He was named to People Magazine’s list of “Talented Emerging Artists Making Their Mark,” Sirius XM’s Artist Accelerator Program, and was named one of 2025’s artists to watch by both Tidal and Amazon Music. Most recently, he was named an iHeartRadio “On the Verge” artist.