News
Plus DIIV, Chinese American Bear, La Luz, Charly Bliss, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
May 31, 2024
By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)
Welcome to the 18th Songs of the Week of 2024. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because of the Memorial Day long weekend, so this list covers the best songs released in the last two weeks. This week Andy Von Pip, Matt the Raven, and Scott Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We seriously considered over 30 songs this week and narrowed it down to a Top 14. More
News of the Universe Out Today via Sub Pop; Read Our Review of It
May 24, 2024
By Mark Redfern
La Luz have released a new album, News of the Universe, today via Sub Pop. Now they have shared its fourth single, “Always in Love,” via a music video. Plus you can stream the album and read our review of it. More
Plus Lionlimb, Why Bonnie, Jon Hopkins, Font, La Luz, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
May 03, 2024
By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)
Welcome to the fifteenth Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, Mark Moody, and Scott Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We seriously considered over 20 songs this week and narrowed it down to a Top 12. More
News of the Universe Due Out May 24 via Sub Pop
Apr 30, 2024
By Mark Redfern
La Luz are releasing a new album, News of the Universe, on May 24 via Sub Pop. Now they have shared its third single, “I’ll Go With You,” via a music video. More
Plus Imogen and the Knife, GIFT, Goat Girl, From Indian Lakes, La Luz, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Weeks' Other Notable New Tracks
Apr 12, 2024
By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)
Welcome to the twelfth Songs of the Week of 2024. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because we were working on other projects, so this week’s Songs of the Week covers the last two weeks. More
News of the Universe Due Out May 24 via Sub Pop
Apr 02, 2024
By Mark Redfern
La Luz are releasing a new album, News of the Universe, on May 24 via Sub Pop. Now they have shared its second single, “Poppies.” More
Plus Camera Obscura, Julia Holter, St. Vincent, La Luz, King Hannah, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Weeks’ Other Notable New Tracks
Mar 08, 2024
By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)
Welcome to the eighth Songs of the Week of 2024. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because we were deep in deadline-mode finishing our new print issue, so this week’s Songs of the Week covers the last two weeks. To be honest, we are still putting the finishing touches on the issue today and tomorrow, but there were so many notable songs released in the last two weeks that we still had to find the time to do a Songs of the Week today. More
News of the Universe Due Out May 24 via Sub Pop
Mar 05, 2024
By Mark Redfern
La Luz have announced a new album, News of the Universe, and shared its first single, “Strange World,” via a music video. The band have also announced some new tour dates. More
“Endless Afternoon” b/w “San Fernando Shadow Blues” Due Out July 7 via Hardly Art
Jun 15, 2022
By Joey Arnone
La Luz have shared a new single, “San Fernando Shadow Blues.” It is the B-side to an upcoming 7-inch single which will also feature the song “Endless Afternoon.” The single will be out physically and digitally on July 7 via Hardly Art. More
“Endless Afternoon” b/w “San Fernando Shadow Blues” Due Out July 7 via Hardly Art
May 19, 2022
By Joey Arnone
La Luz have shared a new single, “Endless Afternoon.” It is the A-side to an upcoming 7-inch single which will also feature the song “San Fernando Shadow Blues.” The single will be out physically and digitally on July 7 via Hardly Art. More
The Band Shared a Statement Over the Weekend
Jan 31, 2022
By Joey Arnone
La Luz have announced that they will postpone their U.S. tour dates for this upcoming March in light of guitarist Shana Cleveland’s breast cancer diagnosis. The band writes: “We know she’s going to pull through this stronger than ever and are hoping that our European tour beginning in May can go on as scheduled. We miss you terribly and will rebook shows in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. as soon as possible.” More
La Luz Due Out Tomorrow via Hardly Art
Oct 21, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Los Angeles trio La Luz are releasing a new self-titled album tomorrow via Hardly Art. Now they have shared a new song from it, “I Won’t Hesitate,” via an amusing video in which the band embark on a spy caper. Cigarettes that secretly shoot darts, phones built into shoes, trench coats, secret meetings, agents disguised as clowns—it’s got it all. Nathan Castiel directed the video. More
La Luz Due Out October 22 via Hardly Art
Sep 28, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Los Angeles trio La Luz are releasing a new self-titled album on October 22 via Hardly Art. Now they have shared a new song from it, “Oh, Blue,” via a lyric video self-directed by the band. More
Plus The Fiery Furnaces, La Luz, My Morning Jacket, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Aug 27, 2021
By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone)
Welcome to the 32nd Songs of the Week of 2021. It was an eclectic week for new tracks and there were lots to choose from (hence we have a slew of honorable mentions). More
La Luz Due Out October 22 via Hardly Art
Aug 25, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Los Angeles trio La Luz are releasing a new self-titled album on October 22 via Hardly Art. Now they have shared a new song from it, “The Pines,” via a green screen-aided video. More
Plus Big Red Machine, Ora the Molecule, Low, illuminati hotties, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 23, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the 28th Songs of the Week of 2021. It was a nice week for new music, with some strong new singles (some connected to album announcements) and some wonderful album tracks we’ve long wanted to share with our readers and can now that the albums are out. We had enough tracks for a Top 12 this week, but many of the honorable mentions are worthy too. More
La Luz Due Out October 22 via Hardly Art
Jul 22, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Los Angeles trio La Luz have announced a new self-titled album and shared a new song from it, “Watching Cartoons,” via a video. More
Plus The Beat Escape, The Decemberists, Simian Mobile Disco, JB Dunckel, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Mar 09, 2018
By Mark Redfern
After a couple of strong weeks for Songs of the Week, it was more much more of a challenge this week to come up with 10 songs we were truly excited about. But we’re really fully passionate about this week’s Top 5 and stand behind the rest of the Top 10. More
Interviews
Aug 28, 2024
By Mark Redfern and Marina Malin
My Firsts is our email interview series where we ask musicians to tell us about their first life experiences, be it early childhood ones (first word, first concert, etc.) or their first tastes of being a musician (first band, first tour, etc.). For this My Firsts we talk to Shana Cleveland of La Luz. More
Oct 27, 2021
By Carlo Thomas
Browsing Zillow has become something of a pastime for Shana Cleveland, guitarist and songwriter of La Luz. The band was based for several years in Seattle, the home of their label Hardly Art and a place where home prices have jumped over 13% from last year (the average mid-tier home value is currently over $850,000). “I would consider living in the Northwest again, Seattle is just too expensive,” she explained to me as we talked via Zoom last month about the band’s self-titled album La Luz, out now. More
Reviews
May 24, 2024
By Daniel Gard’ner
There is a line that comes in the closing seconds of News of the Universe, the new record by California band La Luz, that seems to distill everything that has just transpired into a moment of piercing clarity, a silver bullet of truth. More
