Lily Williams' music feels like a dream.
The London-raised, California-based singer's love for music stems back to her family roadtrips with CDs like Taylor Swift's Red, John Denver and The Beach Boys.
"I played classical piano and clarinet from a very young age and was thinking about going to a classical conservatory when I finished school," Williams tells PEOPLE of her professional journey. "However, songwriting was always my first love and so when I found out about Berklee's contemporary music programs, I changed my course!"
She adds, "I think it was my time in Boston and collaborating and being exposed to so many amazing musicians that confirmed to me that I wanted to pursue music professionally."
On March 10, she released her debut album How the Story Ends, which chronicles a person falling in and out of love and she wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic in London.
"[It] feels amazing! I'm so excited for everyone to hear that body of work, I don't think I've ever been more proud of anything! Right now, I am working on my live performances and am starting to think about my next release. I'm excited to get back into the studio!"
She finds her creativity and flow in "so many places," she says. "I definitely get a lot of inspiration from the things that happen in my own life, but I also find it in my best friend's heartbreaks, scrolling on Pinterest, in books (I love reading), in the conversations of strangers and in old jazz standards!"
"I love telling a story, so I think in order to be inspired to write I have to be excited by a concept," she adds.
Get ready to feel the chills with How the Story Ends here.