Meg Lui announced her debut album Instant Validation, the LP was produced by Sufjan Stevens, and will arrive on September 25, 2026, via Asthmatic Kitty Records. Today, the artist is sharing “Elvis Queen,” the track is a dedication to her beloved aunt. “This song is about my aunt who was a huge Elvis fan,” Lui explains of the track, out now alongside a Joe Raffanti-directed video. “At first it was a very slow, sentimental song, but we sped it up for the final version—she was a very joyful person, so it made sense for it to feel a little bit like a party.” “Elvis Queen” also features Stevens as well as Liam Kazar on backing vocals, and follows “Gone Girl” and “Dreams” (The Cranberries cover)—album tracks released as singles earlier. Instant Validation includes additional contributions from her Hudson Valley, NY, musical community, including: Hannah Cohen (backing vocals); David Lizmi (bass); Sam Evian (alto sax); Chris Holdridge (drums); Keenan O’Meara (production, guitar, and vocals); and Olivier Manchon (violin and viola). Stevens engineered and also played nearly all the other instruments on the album, which they recorded in his studio.

Lui set to work on the album in fall 2024, embracing a deliberately playful approach and carving out time for the album while holding down three jobs. After connecting with Stevens through mutual friends in the Catskills—a tight-knit community of singer/songwriters that also includes her longtime partner Keenan O’Meara—the two musicians began expanding on demos Lui had gathered over the past ten years, deliberately creating without any boundaries. The resulting body of work centers on a sonic aesthetic suited to the immense depth of her imagination. “In the past I’ve tried to fit into some sort of Americana or indie mold, and it always felt a little flat to me,” says Lui, who attended Berklee College of Music and later launched her music career in Brooklyn. “With Sufjan there was so much more out-of-the-box thinking, and we ended up adding layers upon layers that created an unrestrained soundscape for the record.

I think my songs tend to sound like I’m giving advice, but most of the time I’m actually talking to myself and trying to work through my problems,” she says. “A lot of these songs came from feeling like I’m perpetually stuck and wasn’t growing as a person, and when I listened back I realized so many of the lyrics are about finding the courage to go ahead and live my life and not wait for this industry, which has been hard to find a footing in. To not wait on permission to make art – or try to make it fit into a perfect package and let it live and breathe as it is.

Lui continues, making things feels good, so go ahead and make what you want and don’t take yourself too seriously,’” she says. “It’s so easy these days to get stuck on our phones and get distracted from what really matters, partly because of feeling overwhelmed by all the desperation and anger and fear that’s out there in the world. But I hope this album might inspire people to get unstuck, and bring them back to the things that make them feel the most human and most connected to the people and life happening around them.”

Meg Lui
Instant Validation
track list
Asthmatic Kitty

1. Gone Girl
2. Elvis Queen
3. Roadkill
4. Dreams
5. Are You Out There (crimson & clover)
6. Instant Validation
7. Miss Queen Know It All
8. Andromeda
9. Monumental
10. Time Thief
11. Formation (of me)
12. Bluebird

Pre-order Instant Validation by Meg Lui HERE