Alex the Astronaut

Alexandra Frances Lynn (born 3 March 1995), known professionally as Alex the Astronaut, is an Australian folk-pop singer-songwriter. Her debut album The Theory of Absolutely Nothing was released on 21 August 2020, and peaked at number 22 on the ARIA Album's Chart. Her second studio album How to Grow a Sunflower Underwater was released on 22 July 2022. Lynn has her own record label, Minkowski Records, which was named after the Minkowski diagram. Lynn graduated from Pymble Ladies' College in Sydney before studying maths and physics at Long Island University, New York, including a thesis on sonoluminescence, where she played soccer for the LIU Post Pioneers as a forward. Lynn released her debut EP To Whom It May Concern as Alex the Astronaut in 2017. The EP features the single "Already Home", which was described by HuffPost Australia as "a melancholy number about a bus ride and ruminations on the mundanities of life". Lynn's second EP See You Soon featured the single "Not Worth Hiding", and was nominated for a J Award for Unearthed Artist of the Year in 2017. "Not Worth Hiding" ranked at number 23 on Triple J Hottest 100 and it described as an unofficial anthem for the "Yes" campaign in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. Lynn performed at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK, and at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. Alex the Astronaut commenced their first national Australian headline tour in November 2018. Lynn released the single "I Like To Dance" on 8 August 2019. which Brooklyn Vegan described as "tuneful folk-pop to tell a haunting story". In January 2020, Alex the Astronaut released the single "I Think You're Great" and "Split the Sky" in April. The track references the film franchise, Harry Potter, in the opening line where Lynn sings "I've been colder, watching Harry Potter looking older". Alex The Astronaut tweeted the inspiration upon release, and James and Oliver Phelps, who played the Weasley twins, both retweeted the post. In May 2020, Lynn announced her album The Theory of Absolutely Nothing, scheduled for release on 21 August 2020, and released a subsequent single titled "Lost". The Theory of Absolutely Nothing was released on 21 August 2020, with Lynn releasing the single "Caught in the Middle" on the same day. The accompanying music video for the single features an appearance from Lindy Morrison of the Go-Betweens, and shows the two playing tennis and drumming competitively. The Line of Best Fit described her debut album as "a record packed full of vibrant, witty, insightful and heart-rending storytelling, all hooked around rich and tender folk-pop melodies". NME Australia praised the album as a "dynamic, ambitious debut" and gave it a five-star review. On 19 November 2021, Lynn released "Growing Up" which according to triple j, is her "favourite, most honest song" she has written. Its sequel "Airport" was released in January 2022. On 3 March 2022, Lynn released "Octopus" and announced the release of her second studio album, How to Grow a Sunflower Underwater. Lynn identifies herself as gay. She has been quoted as saying she is "not at a definitive spot" in her gender identity journey. Lynn uses she/they pronouns. Lynn was diagnosed with autism in May 2021. Lynn's music has been described as folk pop and folktronica, and has drawn comparisons to Australian musician Paul Kelly. Notes To Whom It May Concern and See You Soon received a physical release as Notes from an Astronaut. The Australian Independent Record Awards (known colloquially as the AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's independent music sector. The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. Alex the Astronaut has received one nomination. The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. Lynn uses both she/her and they/them pronouns and switches between them; this article uses she/her for consistency. "CHANGE". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 10 February 2025. "Alex The Astronaut Announces Sophomore Album". Music Feeds. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022. "Alex the Astronaut announces new single 'Already Home' + live shows". International Music Concepts. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Mathieson, Craig (30 March 2017). "Alex the Astronaut's debut EP cleared for lift off". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Newstead, Al (22 February 2017). "Meet Alex The Astronaut, the must-hear science n soccer prodigy". Triple J. Retrieved 5 November 2017. "Alex Lynn – 2016 Women's Soccer". LIU Post Pioneers. 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Butler, Josh (25 April 2017). "Alex The Astronaut is the busiest woman in music". HuffPost Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Newstead, Al (22 August 2017). "Alex the Astronaut bares all on 'Not Worth Hiding'". Triple J. Retrieved 22 August 2017. Brewster, Will (1 November 2017). "Methyl Ethel, A.B Original lead J Award nominations". Mixdown. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Armstrong, Clare (13 October 2017). "Alex the Astronaut gets Rocket man Sir Elton John's seal of approval". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2017. "Eight more Aussie acts added to UK's The Great Escape". The Music Network. February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018. "Review: Primavera Sound in Barcelona cements itself as the world's finest music festival". The AU Review, 8 June 2018, Larry Heath Fuamoli, Sose (12 September 2018). "Alex the Astronaut announces the 'Space Tour' for the end of 2018". triple J. ABC. Retrieved 12 September 2018. "24 New Songs Out Today". 8 August 2019. Split The Sky (Official Video) – Alex The Astronaut, retrieved 7 April 2020 @AtheAstronaut (1 April 2020). "Hey @James_Phelps & @OliverPhelps I'm a musician in isolation in Australia. I'm a mega Harry Potter fan, I've been to HP world while I was on tour in the UK and tomorrow I have a song coming out about watching HP to cope with the world. Would you like to premiere it?" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 April 2020 – via Twitter. Martin, Josh (7 May 2020). "Alex the Astronaut announces long-awaited debut album, 'The Theory of Absolutely Nothing'". NME Australia. Retrieved 8 May 2020. Martin, Josh (21 May 2020). "Alex the Astronaut plays tennis with Lindy Morrison in new music video for 'Caught in the Middle'". NME Australia. Retrieved 3 September 2020. Newstead, Al (26 August 2020). "Alex the Astronaut writes songs to help her (and us) make sense of life's Big Stuff". Triple J. Retrieved 1 September 2020. Long, Jen (19 August 2020). "On the Rise: Alex the Astronaut". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 1 September 2020. Shutler, Ali (20 August 2020). "Alex the Astronaut – 'The Theory of Absolutely Nothing' review: a debut that's out of this world". NME Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2021. "Alex The Astronaut Debuts New Music "Growing Up"". noise11. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021. Newstead, Al (19 November 2021). "First Play: Alex The Astronaut hits you where it counts on 'Growing Up'". Triple J. ABC. Retrieved 19 November 2021. "Alex the Astronaut goes the distance for love in new single "Airport"". NME Australia. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022. Nguyen, Giselle Au-Nhien (19 August 2020). "Alex the Astronaut: 'I didn't want to tell anyone that I was gay, let alone millions of strangers'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2022. Lynn, Alex. "My Shaved Head Makes Me Feel Like Me: Alex The Astronaut On Gender & Queerness". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 30 March 2023. I'm not