American rock band La Luz started out in Seattle but moved to Los Angeles in 2015. Their fourth album sounds thoroughly Californian; it’s mostly a gentle, warm record. Harmonic vocals weave around each other on many of the tracks (“everyone sings” in La Luz, although Shana Cleveland is lead vocalist), enhancing the dreamy “Watching Cartoons”, the focussed intensity of “Lazy Eyes and Dune”, and the sweetness of “Here on Earth“.
The album is billed as one that celebrates love – music, friendship, and life in general. This is particularly the case on “I Won’t Hesitate”, a breezy ode to finding intimacy in a weird world, the carefree “Down the Street”, and the fuzzy celebration of “Metal Man”. However there’s often a dark undertone, “Oh, Blue” is decidedly resigned, and “In the Country” seems downbeat despite the melodic twang.
La Luz are expert at evoking a sense of the unknown through psychedelia. “The Pines” and “Goodbye Ghost” suggest supernatural spirits are in the air; the two instrumentals, “Spider House” and “Yuba Rot,” the latter a meditation on the cycle of birth and decay, ensure a sense of stoned mystery.
La Luz is available on all formats (except 8-track) – CD, colour vinyl, cassette and download.
Label: Hardly Art
Release Date: 22 OCT 2021
Poetic Justice 