Despite playing as a natural extension of the sounds heard on his 2020 debut EP Well, Lee Sullivan’s new collection of songs come from a fairly different place. While Well was released early on during the pandemic and anchored by a kind of goofy charm, Tiny House immediately feels more tender and considered. This group of tracks were crafted in a real-life tiny house in the backyard of Lee’s Croydon sharehouse, and fittingly each song embodies the intimacy that the private space offered; or as Lee explains “it really was about just making something that was personal and wasn’t a response to any other music out there”. At times radiant and cheery and others subdued and careful, Tiny House does feel like we’re being serenaded by Lee from within the confidential world of these songs.


Up first, ‘A Guy Like You’ builds around a steady acoustic guitar strums while Lee’s unassuming vocals weave fluidly amongst the ebbing chords, the track’s rich emotional weight heightened by an expressive violin that slowly emerges as the track continues. ‘Spinning Plates’ furthers the scope of the EP with its lilting melodies and layers of glistening guitar interplay, and ‘Little Dreamer’ continues to expand with a propulsive drum-machine that leaves the track rich with colour, despite the minimal instrumentation.


‘Within’ is perhaps the EP’s most spirited moment, a dose of playful acapella that cleverly rides the line between sounding eccentric and sentimental, which somehow makes it all the more addictive. Finally, Tiny House wraps up with ‘It Takes A Lifetime’, a ragged moment of humble indie-folk that perfectly rounds out the EP, with a honest sound that truly manages to evoke the image of Lee working away on his songs from inside a cramped cubby house.

To get to understand Tiny House a little more, Lee walked us through each track on the EP.

A Guy Like You

The guitar part that begins this song actually comes from something I used to play around with years ago and it would never go anywhere. But last year I started playing it and these lyrics came out. I often struggle with my own ambition, and how it brushes up against my fears of what other people may say or think. It’s taken me a long time to be able to put myself out there. This song is about that. And how if I’m going to do it, it would have to be real and ambitious and messy. I love the violin part, which was written and performed by Ellie Burke. 

Spinning Plates

I wrote this the same week as ‘A Guy Like You’. The music came pretty quickly in one night, but the lyrics were only half formed and not about the pandemic at all. It was originally about a relationship, and wasn’t very good. So I reworked the whole thing and found that I actually had some thoughts about the state of the world. I wasn’t sure about the harmonies at first. I had already done two songs with a wall of harmonies and didn’t want to repeat myself, so I thought I would hum them for something different. It wasn’t really an artistic decision, more of a practical one, and I assumed I would replace them. I showed a friend, who thought for a second it was a cello, which made me hear it in a new way. And now I love it, I’m really glad it’s in there.

Little Dreamer

This was written for a friend that had been struggling with their purpose in life, finding themselves wondering what to do next. They were away without reception and I found myself wanting to talk to them and let them know it’s going to be ok. But I couldn’t, so I wrote this song instead. It’s about recognising how long life is, and that we don’t have to know where we’re headed. And we can fuck up so many times and it’s still going to be ok.

Within

I felt very free recording this, it was a lot of fun. It's basically a rambling mantra. I don’t meditate enough and it reminds me that I should. Once again, this song is about being completely real, and trusting that it will be enough.

It Takes A Lifetime

I wrote this while housesitting for a friend in Marrickville. The melody for the line, “man it takes a lifetime”, had been floating around for a while, and as soon as I actually sat with it, the whole song came out in one go. I recorded it in an afternoon and most of it was done on the first take. It’s very raw and roomy, and it felt right to leave it like that. The song is looking back and forward at the same time. It’s about facing yourself and your actions, and the healing that comes after. The whole EP is about that.