One line from Luluc’s new album Diamonds seems to explain the band in ways that go beyond words: “Just played how gentle is strong too.” That goes to the heart of music. It gently plumbs unspoken depths. Within the soft, yet never simple, music, they create ripples that continue to resonate. The duo of Zoë Randell and Steve Hassett have developed a framework that bears a certain sense of lushness despite featuring a relatively small cadre of players and instruments.
They somehow manage to capture time in a bottle. The gentle strains of guitar merge with Randell’s voice, creating simple, unaffected folk. A level of gauze sheathes the sound of Snow, while it inexorably grows in proportion without losing the simplicity at the song’s core. The simplest things often weave new strands. Come On Spring bounces along thanks to the seasonal change and the addition of drums that propel the song with percussive positivity.
Bass and bluster take off in equal measure on The Shore, where the addition of horns helps propel the song, offering a dose of freedom amidst the double-tracked vocals. Cellos and bass form an intriguing bottom end to Hooked. Despite the simple collection of instruments on the track, there’s a sense of mystery as the string arrangements by Hassett and Randell, along with horn arrangements by Hassett and Stuart Bogie, add to tracks without overpowering them.
A lovely little peon to the powers of forty winks, Sleepyhead builds from a modest, dream-inducing framework of bass and guitar, adding percussion and piano that add to the effect without ever overpowering the need for shuteye. Gentle as a cloud, the magic in the music takes over, offering wonderful possibilities for the moments of rest that follow.
While Randell and Hassett have covered other people’s songs with unquestioned skill (look to Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake for three examples), the Jagger-Richards classic, As Tears Go By, is their first cover to appear on one of their own albums. A little sadder than the late 60s version, what seems to set it apart is the fact at the song’s heart, all you have are the performances of Randell and Hassett, rather than a truckload of studio musicians, giving it a sense of roots, Marianne Faithful’s version lacked.
Using sonic simplicity, Luluc manage to change the rules of the game with Diamonds. Their glorious visions deliver a magic that reaffirms what we are and what we can be.
Bandcamp: https://luluc.bandcamp.com/album/diamonds