Album Of The Week: Not Right Now — Luke Lucas
For the second time, an EP has won URY’s Album of the Week, and this time it’s a debut. Station Manager Alex West reviews singer-songwriter Luke Lucas’ first extended release.
Luke Lucas might not be a familiar name to many, so I’ll start by introducing him. Hailing from Reading, the home town of The Amazons and Sundara Karma, Luke started out playing classical guitar aged six, before gradually discovering that he had an extraordinary vocal talent. His passion for music was truly ignited by the likes of Bon Iver and Ben Howard, and suitably inspired, he left school to study production aged just 16. Since then, he has been gigging on the local scene and worked freelance as a producer. Finally, after a lot of encouragement from his friends, he recently began self-releasing music to his own label, Aurum Records.
That started with the opening track, ‘Broken Man’, released as a single back in July. It was written at the end of a drunken night out, and it’s not hard to tell: the song is Lucas at his most raw; an ode to devastation and unfulfillment. Featuring the southerner’s live band on their various instruments (Jack Geary on drums, Howard Head on bass and James Kell on keys), the track begins the EP on a sombre note but simultaneously shows why Lucas is an artist with so much potential. The production is, as expected, top notch, and equally highlights Lucas’ primary asset: his voice. Capable of both gut-wrenching choruses and pure falsettos, Lucas’ vocal range is exceptional and that alone should secure him a future in music. But the rest of the EP shows why it will come sooner rather than later.
‘Ready as I’ll Ever Be’ is next, again a track previously released as a single, and played by Bridgitte Tetteh on BBC Music Introducing in Berkshire’s show. Here, Lucas gains some momentum, as a fizzing guitar riff and toe tapping bass-line break the melancholy of the EP’s premier number. Despite being the most optimistic track on the EP, there are still elements of uncertainty: “So tell me honey/ What do you want/ Are you wasting time/ While we feel so lost”. However this is without a doubt the most jubilant track, and one which showcases the more joyous capabilities of this bright new talent.
As we reach the midway point of the record, with ‘Always Come Down To You’, Lucas really comes to life and the album reaches an emotional peak. It opens with what is apparently crowd noise from Guildford’s Wetherspoons, a hark back to days as a student at the Academy of Contemporary Music, before it builds into a tribute to a non-specific friend: “Anywhere else on this Earth, I wouldn’t have found you/ Anyone else on this Earth would not have been like you”. From there, we’re swept into a huge, anthemic chorus that’d have any venue bouncing.
Next, on ‘Just Like You Used To Do’, the influence of Lucas’ long time friend and collaborator Ray Wills is most evident; both in the song’s distant, lingering opening, and in its more image based lyrics: “My heart is like a sunken ship of broken bones/ I only ever seem to see your face when my eyes are closed.” A funk guitar rhythm features midway in the song, a surprise given the rest of the composition is largely the same indie-pop flow that by now the listener is used to from Lucas. Nonetheless, the structure and melody combine flawlessly to patch together another excellent piece.
The closing number, ‘Girl On The Bus’ opens by holding a mirror to the first: both begin with a variation of the phrase “I don’t know know what I was expecting…”. Whilst in the first track this alludes to frustration and finding oneself with nowhere to move forward to, the final number looks back, recounting missed opportunities caused by inaction and dwelling on regrets, using an everyday public transport encounter as a metaphor. Ray Wills’ influence is again at hand; this time the fellow Reading creative takes on the lead guitar role with a driven line that cuts through Lucas’ sweeter tones and pushes into an agonising vocal. The tune finishes abruptly on the question: “Why do I keep putting off my life?” ‘Girl On The Bus’ may not have the energy of some of the other tracks, but it is probably the most beautiful section of the EP, and brings it to a natural, but unresolved, close.
In conclusion, this is an extremely promising piece of debut work, a poetic juxtaposition of light and dark echoing throughout a comprehensive EP that in just five tracks straps the listener directly into the writer’s head for a journey through moods and the senses. If this is the first you’ve heard of Luke Lucas, it most certainly won’t be the last.
