Hotel Lux share nuanced new single ‘Points of View’
Post-punk layabouts Hotel Lux are gearing up for their debut album Hands Across the Creek. Produced by the ever-impressive Bill Ryder-Jones, off the back of their praised EP, the album is hotly anticipated. Their new almost apathetically withdrawn further helps to establish their anti-swaggering style and everyday appeal.
“’Points of View’ ended up being one of the first demos we had for Hands Across the Creek,” the band explained, “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.”
The band, by their own admission, are still finding their feet and the single feels like an aptly shaky step. Amid the rattle is an alluring air of vulnerability. “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. Now they are crafting their own identity.
Along the way, Hotel Lux have suffered some hard knocks. Just as they were gathering some steam and heading off to catch their big break in America via SXSW Festival, 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.”
“It was the most fragile we’ve been,” Cam continued. Original guitarist Jake Sewell even jumped ship, leaving the band to move to Amsterdam. This setback shows in their work in a paradoxically refreshing fashion. There is a greater sense of maturity and self-awareness than you often find in post-punk debuts. In other words, the song might not slap you across the face, but there is a notion of depth.
Their debut is set for release via The State51 Conspiracy on January 27th. You can check out the new single below.
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