Most days I’m running late to everything, trying to catch the Q train. This review feels pretty much the same: I’m late again. A year after its release, I finally found Venus in Virgo, a little gem from Lacey Spacecake, in a Brooklyn that’s an endless ocean of indie bands, practice spaces hidden inside old warehouses, and fuzz pedals.
There’s something deeply late-night about these two songs. Both tracks move on a groove that’s impossible not to follow, while the vocals arrive through layers of reverb, blurring words into something strange, somewhere between a dream and a forgotten language. This is after-hours pop, makeup smudged, with echoes of new wave that sound like a cassette recorded off an old radio. The guitars never sit still. They’re constantly pulling the songs forward with the rush of a subway suddenly switching from local to express.
Venus in Virgo is the soundtrack to your own movie and you don’t know it yet. The one you blast through your headphones at 3 a.m. on the subway ride home, happy and exhausted at the same time. At moments, Lacey Spacecake feels less like a band and more like a cinematic idea, loosely connected to what Pulp was doing in 1987. And honestly, that makes perfect sense. The band played Pulp covers last Halloween, so some of that stardust clearly stuck to their skin, like the glitter you keep finding days after the party is over. PRESS PLAY.
We spoke with Automne Zingg, the artist behind Lacey Spacecake, about writing in bursts, life in New York, the chaos of dating, and 3 albums we should listen to forever.
★ Your EP is called Venus in Virgo. For someone so into astrology, are you recording a lot of raw, impulsive material during this Aries stellium?
Lacey Spacecake: Hahahha. I wouldn’t say I’m recording a lot but I am spending this Aries stellium getting a lot of song material, that’s for sure. That said, last month I was in a constant state of recording raw and impulsive material for a new band I just started with my drummer/roommate and friend across the street. We’re called Fun Crusher but I have no idea if any of these songs will see the light of day or become Lacey Spacecake tracks.
★ New York can be a love/hate city. What’s something about it that still inspires you, and what’s something that drives you a little crazy?
Lacey Spacecake: Everything about New York inspires me. I’m always walking around and see so much beauty in faces, places, street art, street trash, fits, the sounds, the energy, the variety of people and neighborhoods and just the rhythm of it. Every city has a unique rhythm and I’ve definitely lived in places where the rhythm seemed off (at least to me) but NYC is always on the right beat. It’s funny because there are some days where I wake up in a terrible mood and just feel off for whatever reason but NYC picks up on that. Those are always the days where I miss every train by two seconds, everyone is in my way or walking too slow, my sock will keep falling down and it will just start raining out of nowhere the second I leave work. I’ll be full of so much rage but it’s not New York’s fault. It’s just me being off rhythm. I think some people hate it here because they never found the rhythm in the first place. Or maybe they just don’t have any rhythm. I dunno but I love it here. I love how you can get any need met 24 hours a day. I love all the little communities. I love my life and my neighborhood. I love going to the corner store at 9pm to get a Celsius when I’m starting my night and returning again, makeup smeared, at 7am because I’m craving a sandwich. The only thing that drives me truly crazy is dating but I would probably hate that in any city. It creates good song material tho.
★ If you had to choose three albums to listen to for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?
Lacey Spacecake: HAHAHHAAH. OMG WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING VIOLENCE? This question is impossible to answer. I listen to so much music and so many albums feel like old friends I’ve had for decades. It would be a list of over 100 albums in various genres so narrowing it down to three isn’t even possible. I can’t imagine going a week without hearing certain songs by The Kinks or The Jesus And Mary Chain or New Order. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without ever hearing The Fall again. Could I even go a weekend without putting OMD on? The Cure are so close to my heart that some of their records feel like they are actually in my bone marrow. Think I have been listening to Stereolab every single day since 1998. How am I gonna function without hearing Jarvis Cocker‘s deep breaths? How am I going to choose a Bowie record over another Bowie Record? And then all the newer bands and bands I haven’t even heard yet and soul 45’s and Turkish psych compilations and Italo disco. I’m about to have an anxiety attack but will play this game and hide 15 other records and a few mixtapes in each of these choices.
Spacemen 3 – Playing With Fire (It soothes me and feels like home. “Revolution” is one of my favorite songs.)
The Chameleons – John Peel Sessions (Lyrically and musically flawless. Never get tired of it and “Second Skin” always hurts my feelings in the best way)
Depeche Mode – Music For The Masses (I don’t want to live in any world where I can’t dance and scream every word to “Never Let Me Down Again” with my friends for the rest of my life. I’ve been doing that for almost 40 years and it always feels like the first time.)
★ What do you think people are actually nostalgic for when they romanticize the ’90s?
Lacey Spacecake: I feel like people are nostalgic for the 90’s because it was the last time everyone was truly in the moment. We didn’t have social media or little computer doom processors in our hands 24/7. Going to shows and playing shows was way more fun. We were more connected, present and alive. I feel so lucky to have been the age I was during that time and even luckier to have seen so many incredible shows. That said, it wasn’t perfect. I also had 9 roommates, no money and survived on bagels a local coffee shop left near a dumpster but whatever. We were free.
★ Is there more music on the way in 2026?
Lacey Spacecake: Absolutely. Whether it’s a new Lacey Spacecake album or Fun Crusher debut, I have a lot of songs to get out this year.★
Lacey Spacecake is X.
Check out Venus in Virgo here
Visit Lacey Spacecake on Instagram here