The Luka State’s eagerly anticipated sophomore L.P. More Than This is out now. A body of work that mixes influences spanning alt-rock, indie, punk and rock ‘n’ roll, the album is a state-of-the-nation address which explores issues including social inequality, mental health battles and addiction – all told from a very personal perspective. But amidst the turmoil, it’s an album in which hope for a better future is a recurring motif.
The Luka State (Rob Blackham)
Earlier this week, the band earned praise from an artist renowned for blending uncompromising guitar music with a vehement social message – the Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave legend Tom Morello.
Frontman and guitarist Conrad Ellis says,“This album is a rebirth for us. Like every other band, we want to take over the world, but we want our message to be heard. No one out there must feel alone. There’s a way through everything and we can do it together. We can take over the world together.” The new song Losing Streak encapsulates a range of what The Luka State have to offer with the More Than This album. Its ferocious, granite-heavy riff pulls no punches, but its aggression is balanced by the band’s love of an enticing melody. The song’s themes also find the equilibrium between a dichotomy, with Conrad being brutally honest about his mental health struggles, but also showing to people with similar issues that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Luka State (Rob Blackham)
Ellis adds: “Losing Streak is a documentation of exactly where I was at around the time I wrote it. It follows where my mental health was at: self-medication with substances and going off the rails. My mental health was so poor, but I came out the other side. This song is for those who need it, those who have suffered through trauma or substance abuse or addiction or depression. It’s ok to talk about those things. There’s always a way through it.”
Listen to More Than This here and below:
The album’s other new material offers plenty for fans to delve into, taking into pummelling post-punk anxiety with Tightrope (Walking On A Wire), the main stage festival-scale slowburner Swimming Backwards, the angular attack of Metamorphosis and melodic punk with Change. The album’s journey comes to an end with an unexpected twist on the band’s sound on Movies. A plaintive acoustic ballad with sweet, swirling vocal harmonies, it ends the record on a high with the simple message that love can conquer many of life’s challenges.
The Luka State (Jim de Whalley)
Completed by Sam Bell (bass, vocals), Lewis Pusey (guitar) and Jake Barnabas (drums), The Luka State are four childhood friends who grew-up in Winsford, Cheshire. Located a short distance from both Liverpool and Manchester, it’s a working class town which has inspired the themes behind the album – the struggles and hopes of its people being reflected in similar towns right across the country. Matching their words with action, The Luka State have consistently supported The Trussell Trust throughout the album campaign, donating a meal for each gig ticket and album sold, as well as donating the budget for their More Than This video direct to the charity.
The band released their self-funded debut album Fall In Fall Out in the midst of the pandemic. Being unable to tour an album they had waited their lives to release, the band looked inwards to write a huge catalogue of new songs as a form of lockdown escapism. Those frustrations were channelled into sessions at The Motor Museum in Liverpool with producers Dan Austin (You Me At Six, Pixies) and the GRAMMY® award-winning Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse).
The Luka State (Jim de Whalley)
The Luka State will celebrate the release of More Than This by embarking upon a record store tour, which starts tonight with a homecoming appearance at The Electric Church in Winsford. The band then embark upon a UK and European headline tour which commences later this month. All shows have very limited tickets remaining, available HERE. The album will also be the subject of #TimsTwitterListeningParty at 8pm next Wednesday, 15th March.
MARCH – RECORD STORE TOUR10th – The Electric Church, Winsford11th – Banquet Records, Kingston12th – Rough Trade, Nottingham13th – Crash Records, Leeds14th – Record Junkee, Sheffield15th – Jacaranda, Liverpool MARCH – HEADLINE TOUR23rd – Rainbow, Birmingham24th – Crofters, Bristol25th – Heartbreakers, Southampton30th – Camden Assembly, London31st – Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds APRIL – HEADLINE TOUR6th – Tunnels, Aberdeen7th – Church, Dundee8th – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow12th – Hakken, Hamburg13th – Helios37, Cologne14th – Maschinenhaus, Berlin15th – Paradise Bitterzoet, Amsterdam18th – Supersonic, Paris21st – Academy 3, Manchester
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