Luke Sital-Singh – Los Angeles
Luke Sital-Singh – Los Angeles (2019)
Directed by: Chris “MUG5” Maguire
‘Los Angeles’ is the beautiful new single from Luke Sital-Singh, released January 10, 2019 on Raygun Records via The Orchard. The single is the third to be taken from Sital-Singh’s new album ‘A Golden State’, which will be released on April 5, following previous singles ‘The Last Day’ and ‘Love Is Hard Enough Without The Winter’.
‘Los Angeles’ is a song as warm and hazy as an LA morning, and writing it helped in Luke’s decision to relocate from Bristol to the city in 2019 with his wife, illustrator Hannah Cousins.
“Hannah’s wanted to move to LA for years but I’m not much of an adventurer, I’m a worrier and a pessimist,” he says. “But I do need something new. And writing the song crystallized my enthusiasm for moving there. It’s probably the most honest and open song on the album. There’s no metaphor or characters. It’s me and Hannah, let’s move to America, I’m scared, you’re not scared, so stay close, ’cause I’m gonna freak out along the way.”
The song’s evocative video was filmed in Los Angeles and Weston-super-Mare, and directed by Chris ‘MUG5’ Maguire.
“I had a choice to keep Weston-super-Mare as my local beach or change it to Malibu, California,” says Luke. “Tricky one! They could have flown me to LA for the video shoot, but I’m not Duran Duran. So I got the train to Weston and filmed my bits there.”
‘A Golden State’ was produced by Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers, Soak), who also produced Luke’s last album, 2017’s ‘Time Is A Riddle’, and recorded in Portland’s Jackpot Studios, famously set up by Elliott Smith, where alumni include R.E.M., Stephen Malkmus, and The Decemberists.
In April 2018, Luke was invited to give a TED Talk at the official TED conference in Vancouver. Luke spoke about the cathartic effect of writing and performing ‘sad’ songs, and performed two tracks. The event proved the catalyst for Luke to finish set of the songs he’d been slowly, painfully writing for the new album. ‘A Golden State’ he says has been the most difficult of his three albums to write. “Even though I think I say that every time,” he admits, convinced he also said it about his 2014 debut ‘The Fire Inside’. “But this one did seem to take absolutely forever.”
Luke and Tommy headed to Portland in August 2018, and where joined in the studio by a small group of musicians including the drummer from Villagers, James Byrne, and the piano player from The Lumineers (name?).
At its most basic, ‘A Golden State’ is album of California dreaming. The cover artwork, created by Cousins, a four-colour lino cut of the Venice Beach canals, is taken from her upcoming art book, Coastline. The songs therein reflect the album title, Luke says “Overall, there is this ethereal, positive vibe – without being too cheesy. There is an Americana fantasy, of wanting to escape to this gorgeous place – but also about what I’m escaping from.”
Luke Sital-Singh released his debut single ‘Fail For You’ in 2012, introducing the world his deft ability to craft songs with a mesmerizing, piercing emotional quality. The song went on to be featured in numerous TV shows including ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. At the end of 2013, Sital-Singh was featured in the BBC’s Sound of 2014 list and released his debut record ‘The Fire Inside’ later that year.
After a couple of years touring the world and opening for artist such as Villagers, The Staves, Martha Wainwright and Angus and Julia Stone, in 2017 Sital-Singh released his critically-acclaimed sophomore record ‘Time Is A Riddle’. The album’s lead single ‘Killing Me’ has had 10m plays on Spotify, and Luke’s combined streams since 2015 are at almost 120m.
