| HOTEL LUX SHARE NEW SINGLE ‘POINTS OF VIEW’ WATCH / LISTEN NEW ALBUM HANDS ACROSS THE CREEK OUT JAN 27TH VIA THE STATE51 CONSPIRACYHotel Lux today share new single Points Of View, taken from their much anticipated debut album Hands Across The Creek, out January 27th on The state51 Conspiracy. The Portsmouth/London band released a critically acclaimed debut EP in 2020 and have spent the subsequent period writing and honing this debut LP, which is produced by Bill Ryder-Jones. There has been recent press support from the likes of The Guardian, Mojo, Uncut, Clash, So Young, NME, DIY, Dork along with radio plays from Steve Lamacq and Iggy Pop. The band will also embark on a UK/EU tour starting Feb 2023 which includes a headline slot at The Dome in London. Points Of View, the final single ahead of the album arriving later this month is a ready-for-the-dancefloor indie hit with a driving bassline and delicious hooks aplenty. The accompanying video is directed by BAFTA Cymru-winning filmmaker Ewan Jones Morris who has worked with John Grant, Anna Meredith and Cate Le Bon among others. On the new single, the band say, “Points of View ended up being one of the first demos we had for Hands Across The Creek, yet one of the last tunes to be finished. Despite existing in many forms, with various titles and changing names, Points of View ended up existing as what we feel is a natural and comfortable bridge between the previous EP and our debut album, Hands Across the Creek.”Once contenders for the mantle of Britain’s most self-conscious band — guilty, by their own admission, of pandering to audiences’ tastes following their move from Pompey to London — Hotel Lux have crafted a bold and bright identity that is truly their own on their brilliant debut album Hands Across The Creek. All it took was for their wildest dreams to be dashed. “We always cared too much about how we were going to be perceived,” bass player Cam Sims recalls of those early days, as Hotel Lux became entwined in South London music scene folklore. It seems silly, now: the band’s early, clattering pub-rock singles received widespread acclaim from the offset – their acute social commentary and raw passion greater assets, perhaps, than they gave themselves credit for. But a sense of vulnerability endured. Anxieties aside, Hotel Lux — completed by acerbic lead vocalist Lewis Duffin, guitarist Sam Coburn, drummer Craig MacVicar, and new members Max Oliver (guitar) and Dillon Home (organ; violin) — found themselves on the path to major success in 2020 around the release of the Barstool Preaching EP. Iggy Pop was singing their praises on the radio, and the band themselves were preparing for their big break in America via SXSW Festival. Then, the world shut down and their Stateside debut was cancelled. “We were gutted,” Lewis remembers. “Everything had been pretty exciting for us up until that point.” Hotel Lux were left stumped, says Cam: “it was the most fragile we’ve been”. Original guitarist Jake Sewell even jumped ship, leaving the band to move to Amsterdam. But the surviving members remained focused – opting to put the meagre funds that remained from their America budget towards creating an album of their own. But first, they had to write some songs. “It took a long, long time,” Lewis says of the writing process for what would eventually be their debut. Making songs about wearing gloves and going to Sainsbury’s at 6am was hardly proving worthwhile, and there were “a lot of arguments” as the band struggled to settle on a sound to call their own. “Craig and Sam got really hooked on ESG,” Lewis explains — referring to the ‘80s New York post-punk band known for their funky rhythms and simplistic refrains. “I hated that. It was doing my head in.” But with new guitarist Max (of fellow South London band LEGSS) bringing a “scratchy and harsher, more tone-y Telecaster sound” with him in 2020, the roots of Hotel Lux’s transformation were soon in place. The band’s classic influences — Dr Feelgood, The Stranglers and Ian Dury — would mesh with the sounds of artists like Neil Young, Brian Eno and The Waterboys as Hotel Lux spread their wings while remaining faithful to their roots. (It’s a truth reflected in the album title — a phrase Lewis picked up from his Dad’s mates, which he believed to refer to the Portsmouth-Fareham connection.) “We ended up doing the whole ‘haha, that’s what the fourth album will sound like’ thing — but ended up actually doing it on the first album’, says Cam.Revisit the video for ‘Common Sense’ – the single which drew inspiration from the RMT union and Mick Lynch – https://youtu.be/B0_y_vsxOmIVulnerability seems to creep in throughout the album. The songs were predominantly written in a rehearsal space in Bermondsey over a period of lockdown when ‘work meetings’ were allowed. Over the course of a few months, as tensions grew and friendships trod carefully along a tight rope. Through many, many ‘work meetings’ – Hands Across the Creek was birthed. The band then decamped to The Wirral, near Liverpool, where they found further inspiration in the marina, the local Morrisons and a producer and kindred spirit in Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral; Arctic Monkeys; Yard Act) — who also contributed piano to the record. It was here that the band’s multi-faceted influences, £20 Casio keyboards and experimentation with omnichords, violins and marauding song structures finally fell into place. With rich emotional peaks matching the band’s signature self-effacing wit, and as many jangling guitars as there are squiggling organ hooks, the results have proven emphatic. Revisit the video for ‘National Team’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e9Lv9Byx_I&ab_channel=HotelLux Hotel Lux look set to become something their early critics might have not foreseen: a band full of confidence, with the ability to transcend their peers and carve out their own corner of the British music tapestry to confirm a legacy that is their own. “It feels really important,” Lewis concludes of the whole ordeal. “We spent a lot of time worrying.”Album pre-order: https://grd.bg/93PZJ4 Hotel Lux – Across The Creek // The state51 Conspiracy – 27/01/2022 |
| 1. Old Timer 2. Common Sense 3. National Team 4. Eastbound and Down 5. Strut 6. Morning After Mourning 7. An Ideal For Living 8. Points Of View 9. Easy Being Lazy 10. Solidarity Song |
| Tour Dates Feb 1st | Belgium – Antwerp – Trix Café Feb 2nd | Netherlands – Amsterdam – Paradiso Feb 3rd | Netherlands – Rotterdam – V11 Feb 4th | Germany – Hamburg – Nochtwache Feb 5th | Germany – Cologne – Helios37 Feb 7th | France – Lille – L’Aéronef Feb 8th | France – Paris – Petit Bain Feb 9th | France – Orleans – Astrolabe Feb 10th | France – Lyon – Le Transbordeur Feb 11th | France – Clermont Ferrand – La Cooperative de Mai Feb 13th | France – Bordeaux – Rock School Barbey Feb 14th | France – La Rochelle – La Sirene Feb 15th | France – Reims – La Cartonnerie Feb 17th | UK – Brighton – Green Door Store Feb 18th | UK – Birmingham – Dead Wax Feb 19th | UK – Manchester – Deaf Institute Feb 20th | UK – Glasgow – Audio Feb 21st | UK – Leeds – Key Club Feb 22nd | UK – Milton Keynes – Craufurd Arms Feb 23rd | UK – Bristol – Exchange Feb 24th | UK – London – The DomeFeb 25th | UK – Portsmouth – Staggeringly Good |
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@thebristolnomad / @bristolnomad_gigphotography
Role: Photographer / Reviewer / Interviewer
Chief, the one that bugs the team for team for their reviews and images. Creator and founder of The Bristol Gig Guide. Can usually be found swamped in admin or getting cramp kneeling at the front of a gig.
Available for: Gig Shoots, Gig Reviews, Photo Shoots, Album and Single cover shoots, Videography work, Interviews and Touring
First attended gig: Republica, circa 1996.
First gig shot: Hands Off Gretel, at The Louisiana!
Dream gig: Huge metalhead and my ultimate dream gig would be shooting my heroes Slipknot at a huge stadium gig, or as festival headliners. And to experience shooting a headline tour outside the UK
