St Lucia Debut Songs from Their Sophomore Album

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St Lucia by Larry Hirshowitz

Our first taste of St Lucia was the track “Elevate”, which brought a packed crowd at the Hollywood Bowl to their feet earlier this summer when the band opened for Empire of the Sun.

They make catchy, life-affirming pop. It’s not life affirming in the lyrics per se, but the music itself is so joyous and synth happy, I feel like I’m on top of the world when I listen to it.

The excellence of that one track set expectations high for their sophomore release.

MBE host Jason Bentley was an early supporter of the band and told singer Jean Philip that their 80’s era synth pop and new wave sound is something he’s been looking for in the current music landscape.

Singer Jean Philip Grobler, who grew up in Johannesburg, has a really interesting personal history and musical perspective and the full interview is excellent (it starts around the 15 minute mark).

The Brooklyn-based band will release the album “Matter” in early 2016 and treated us to a handful of the new tracks in a live session from the Village Studios before the holidays. They proved they are ready to deliver!

Watch it here and, if you’re on the West Coast, see them live in 2016!

3/5 – San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
3/8 – San Diego, CA @ North Park Observatory
3/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda
3/11 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory

p.s. From our post-session photo shoot, it’s clear they really enjoy each other (also worth noting: singer Jean Philip is married to keyboard player Patti!).

by Larry Hirshowitz
by Larry Hirshowitz (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)