We spoke with ilovelucius about their new album which is out now and how they want us to dance through the pain
– look like Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe. This is only a notable thing because when they perform together, they don’t so much appear as themselves but as two arms of the same whole: voices twisted and wrapped around each other like structural vines, their matching hair and mirrored outfits like looking at one figure with over-rubbed eyes.
You toured tirelessly before the pandemic – as Lucius, and then with Roger Waters. Did suddenly having time to turn off help the songs develop in new ways?Well, there was a lot that had been stewing for many years, but we hadn’t had a break to sit through and talk about what we were experiencing. And then suddenly we couldn’t escape it. It forced us to stare at the thing right in its face. It was a powerful, and difficult time.
This record deals in some very serious and emotional topics, and presents them through the lens of disco – it’s dancing through the tears, instead of being drowned by them.It was a coping mechanism, on one hand. The subject matter was really intense, and really difficult, but early on in the pandemic we were finding ways to connect with our fans and noticing how there were these little pockets of joy when everyone found each other.
You guys aren’t blood relatives, but are sisters of a different kind – and Carlile not only plays with a set of twins, the Hanseroth brothers but also produced two Secret Sisters albums. Feels like there’s something there!You often talk about how you take the seeds of your song ideas from “coffee talks,” where you just speak freely and see what can lead to a lyric, but you also share things as friends who spend so much time experiencing the ups and downs of each other’s lives.