• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Jul 11, 2018 Web Exclusive By Matt Conner

The fleeting beauty poetically described on “Spring,” the opening track on Luluc’s latest album, sets the table well. Here and now, we are not only surrounded by wonder, but we are capable of conjuring it ourselves. Simultaneously, these things, yes even ourselves, are also fading. Welcome to Sculptor.

Four years after the acclaimed release of Passerby earned them global opportunities, the Australian duo of Zoe Randell and Steve Hassett are back with an album that complicates their modest aesthetic. The lyrical wrestling and sonic exploration nearly betrays their earliest work yet elevates their catalog—already so celebrated—to another level.

Beyond its broader vision, Sculptor is an album that feels important. “The kids just need a way home,” sings Randell on “Kids,” one of several prophetic lines that reveal truth within the beauty. “Take some time, it might look better in the morning light,” she reminds on “Needn’t Be.” Randell says the hard word on “Heist” when she sings, “It’s not like only you are hurting” as she pushes someone close toward healing.

Caught in this tension, Sculptor reminds us that the present requires work that’s worth it, even if it fades in the end. That’s a statement any band should be very proud to release. (www.lulucmusic.com)

Author rating: 8/10