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| Stuart Rook - Lux Lisbon |
When that initial rush of a new wine touches your tongue you always hope that the subsequent bottle will be as good, if not better, as the first taste. This time last year I caught a couple of tunes from Lux Lisbon at the Queen of Hoxton during a charity concert. The splash that rolled around my musical glass that night was aggressive and refreshing. Luckily what I experienced at The Lexington earlier this month (17/10/2014) was more of the same, in fact, it had improved with age.
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| Charlotte Austen |
Like the Careless Sons, who preceded them onstage, this sold out gig at The Lexington, London was the last of a compact tour. Their 'Memento Mori’ dates took them to Newcastle, Cambridge, Manchester and Nottingham and had warmed this highly original fivesome to a perfect heat for our pleasure.
I cannot commend enough both the group's creativity and their ability to effortless cross genres. The sweep of their themes and the passion behind them was captivating. To be both original and entertaining is a heady mix that one doesn't see at many concerts. This broadening of creative perspectives was only pulled further apart with their use of projected imagery. Many of us, including myself, play with music and film. Experience tells you that it is difficult card to play.
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| Jamie Shaw |
To describe Charlotte Austen as the jewel in Lux Lisbon's crown would be to discredit her as merely a bauble. She is more integral than that and she sparkles amongst Lux Lisbon's fluid sophisticated sound.
I only got an impressionistic sketch of Tom Cooper, his crisp guitar work on '
Demons You Show' which was both strong and soulful. The tribal edge that drummer Jamie Shaw brought to 'Devil got me dancing' was a river that swelled with the voice of Charlotte Austen, and I wasn't the only one to be swept away.
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| Tom Cooper |
It was a return to more familiar territory for me with the jack-in-the-box trumpet of Elliot Phelps on subsequent tunes 'Get some scars' and 'Keep me wild'. The latter, a new tune, was heartfelt and authentic in the hands of lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Rook. It was a fanfare to outdoor hours at late night parties. You felt the cool grass of an English lawn beneath your feet. The smell of a forbidden lake or river in the air and the irresistible desire to skinnydip.
Lux Lisbon currently have a free download (Get Some Scars EP - Special Edition) available at -
https://luxlisbonsmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
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| Elliot Phelps |
More importantly they have just announced a new live date at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen on January 28th 2015. It will be well worth catching if you can. A third of the tickets have already sold and if it's anything like the gig at The Lexington then they will sell-out along time before the date itself.
For more information visit - http://luxlisbon.com/
AL.
