Label: Hardly Art
Released: 22nd October 2021
Natives of Seattle, La Luz have spent the last eight years travelling back in time to bring us psychedelic surf rock music straight out of the sixties that they mix with ghostly vocal harmonies and subtly complex producing. Their self-titled latest album brings a trove of mellowed out, swimmy tracks that harken back to a golden era for guitar music while resonating an innately modern tone and intimacy.
Driven largely by rolling bass and iconically surfed out guitars, ‘La Luz’ has a staggering knack for toying with pace. Songs go from the jumped up ‘Goodbye Ghost’, a mischievous and playful track, directly into the lumbering, monumental ‘Yuba Rot’ that plays like the grand and imposing theme to an epic western flick. The whole record screams of Americana, even down to the signature Carter Family style harmonies that make La Luz so ear-catching.
‘La Luz’ whips in and out of sunny, excitable tunes into sinister and imposing dirges. It’s an ever-evolving trip, and you don’t have a moment to get comfortable, but that’s exactly where they want you. Without straying from their personality, La Luz have refined their musicality in their eponymous record, providing well-composed and intricately arranged pieces. Every track glitters with audible depth as chimes or precise keyboard cues fill in behind the primary sounds.
With eight years and three other albums behind them, we can see why La Luz have waited until this record for a self-titled release – because these 12 tracks have perfectly encapsulated the band and their relationship to one another and to their music. It’s the culmination of their history and a promising sign for their future as creatives.
