If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ginger Fierstein We've been mesmerized by the singles we've heard from La Luz's upcoming album, but nothing has grabbed up quite like "I'll Go With You." The song is slow and hypnotic, almost painfully at times. Somehow La Luz let vocal harmonies drive the psychedelic nature of this song, even though it also leans heavily into doo wop and 60's girl groups. For those of us that grew up listening to a ton of oldies and then indie rock as we came of age, a song like "I'll Go With You" is just pure heaven. Plus, the song is equal parts beautiful and uplifting, but also surprisingly foreboding.  Lead singer Shana Cleveland says of the new single: "This song is heavily influenced by Yanti Bersaudara, a group of Indonesian sisters who released some of my very favorite music originally released in the mid 60s and early 70s. Lyrically, this song is a retelling of a dream I had one night when I had gone to bed with the melody of this song...

Photo by Ginger Fierstein The songs off La Luz's forthcoming album have a certain dystopian quality, and there's a reason for that. (Besides... you know... everything...) News of the Universe was written and recorded after songwriter/guitarist Shana Cleveland's breast cancer diagnosis two years after the birth of her son. That darkness is audible in the band's latest single. "Poppies" is a baroque pop meets indie rock song that has a dark, groovy quality to it. It's a moody track that still maintains a sense of hope and life. It's a beautiful track, despite how unsettling it can be at times. Shana Cleveland says of her band's newest single: "'Poppies' is about the surreal feeling of going through the horror and isolation of a cancer diagnosis and treatment and then suddenly being out in the bright world again, trying to make sense of it all, feeling like I’m walking through a waking dream, seeing the first wildflowers come out and feel...

Photo by Wyndham Garrett La Luz, led by Shana Cleveland, have a new single out that is one of the more fun takes on indie rock that's out today. "Strange World" has a distinctly modern sound while throwing back to the world of oldies music. It's a very 1960's psychedelic influenced track without being a throwback. La Luz are also cramming plenty of girl group harmonies into the song to match the 1960's groovy vibes, but it doesn't sound like anything released during that era. It's rare for a band to lean so heavily on influences and past sounds while still creating something fresh and new, but they did so with "Strange World." Shana Cleveland says of her band's latest single: “It’s been a strange and difficult few years, and at moments, I have found myself rushing to move forward in time, to leave the present and escape to whatever is next. The best advice a friend gave me during a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and batt...