La Luz – the band led by Shana Cleveland – has announced the May 24th release of their new album, News of the Universe. The LP marks their first for Sub Pop. With a credo adapted from science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, an album title from a collection of metaphysical poetry, and an expansion in consciousness brought on by personal crisis, the album finds guitarist and songwriter Cleveland embracing a changing world with unconditional love. News of the Universe is also a record born of calamity, a work of dark, beautiful psychedelia reflecting Cleveland’s experience of having her world blown apart by a breast cancer diagnosis just two years after the birth of her son.
Today, La Luz shares “Strange World,” the first single off News of the Universe. “It’s been a strange and difficult few years, and at moments, I have found myself rushing to move forward in time, to leave the present and escape to whatever is next,” says Cleveland. “The best advice a friend gave me during a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and battling consecutive panic attacks was to go outside, take my shoes off, and sit with my feet on the earth. This seemed to slow the universe down in a way that made it feel easier to handle. So this chorus is something of a mantra to myself ‘we’ll be fine, just take your time.’”
The video was shot by Vanessa Pla and features Cleveland on a bike delivering the La Luz Observer newspaper whose headline reads “News of the Universe.”
Unashamedly vulnerable, unabashedly feminine, and undeniably triumphant, News of the Universe is another knockout record from a band so reliably great that it has perhaps led people to overlook how pioneering La Luz really are: women of color in indie music forging their own path by following their own artistic star into galaxies beyond current musical trends, always led by an earnest belief in the cosmic power of love and a great riff. Never is that more true than on News of the Universe, which might be La Luz’s most brutal record to date but also their most blissful. After everything, how could it not?
1. Reaching Up to the Sun
2. Strange World
3. Dandelions
4. Poppies
5. Good Luck With Your Secret
6. Always in Love
7. Close Your Eyes
8. I’ll Go With You
9. Blue Moth Cloud Shadow
10. News of the Universe
11. Moon in Reverse
12. Blue Jay
News of the Universe is available to preorder now on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders in North America from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the “Luzer” Edition on Translucent Orange Crush. LP preorders in Europe and the UK from independent retail stores and Mega Mart 2 (the new, UK-based sibling site to the world-famous Sub Pop Mega Mart) will receive the “Luzer” Edition on Neon Orange. All colored vinyl versions are available while stock lasts.
La Luz will be touring Europe, and the UK in support of News of the Universe, and the first run of dates will kick off May 23rd in Barcelona.
La Luz Tour Dates
23/05 Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
24/05 Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Festival
25/05 London, UK @ Wide Awake Festival
30/08 Brighton, UK @ Brighton Psych Fest
31/08 Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
01/09 Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh Psych Fest
03/09 Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
05/09 Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
06/09 Sart-Messire-Guillaume, BE @ SMG Music Fest
07/09 Asten-Heusden, NL @ Misty Fields Festival
08/09 Amsterdam, NL @ Indiestadt x Suger Mountain @ Paradiso
10/09 Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN
11/09 Hamburg, DE @ Prinzenbar
12/09 Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
13/09 Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur
14/09 Zürich, CH @ Bogen F
Connect with La Luz: Instagram ** YouTube ** Spotify ** Bandcamp
Photo credit – Wyndham Garrett