Lucille is an old soul, a meeting of extremes, an explosion of energy onstage that spills out into the universe. Lucille talks to the ancients of blues and then takes it out on the street, bleeding out rhymes to a city pulse. The first time I heard them, I thought my heart might break through my rib cage and fly. Now Lucille – an 8 person band fronted by Rebel Sun on rhymes and guitarist/producer Isgav Dotan, with incredibly polished musicians, a gleaming horn section and a bevy of powerful female vocalists stopping by for a song or two – bring all that action to the studio, and the result is a stand-out album that will move you and make you want to move.
Their funk, soul, blues, hip hop sound is open to diverse influences, I’ve heard them perform live many times over the past two years and they always manage to take me by surprise with the impact of their music. Visiting them in the studio as they worked on their eponymous album, Lucille brought the same energy and intensity to the recording process that goes into their onstage performance, accompanied by devoted attention to detail, tireless perfectionism, and the same easy feeling of just hangin’ with friends, playing tunes. Listening to the album, you can hear it all.
Opening with A Rebel’s Word, a philosophy in rhyme, defining the quest – “answer eternal questions like who I am and what it is” – and its quotidian interruptions – a cell phone rings, people to meet, a digital tranche de vie, offered up in less than a minute.
Then the next track opens with a very lush, full, musical intro to a rap by Rebel Sun, “lost without a clue” in the urban landscape where there is only a rough scramble for survival, and questions: “Could you believe in a love that’s true?” Then there is a shift in the music about 3/4 of the way through the song, and Gila Zylber brings us back to the promise of that rich music: “We too can pull through.”
Gal de Paz brings a strong presence to Day Drifter, there’s a beautiful balance between her and Rebel Sun in these deadlocked, love gone wrong blues. The two come together again for Bill Wither’s Grandma’s Hands, singing out a powerful hymn, a soulful song: remember where we come from, where our music comes from.
The musical roots of this album are many, and on the next track the song goes out into the desert and back through the ages to sing of a Moses you never knew…hip hop and the honey voice of Yael Deckelbaum and somewhere in there an instrumental arabesque – a wonderful fusion!
So many beautiful gems, some small, like Blusin’ with its jazzy intro and indigo down drift, some shouting out – Big City “where the troubles are so high.” You’ll be shouting out with them and dancing to this urban anthem, the crazy amazing transformation of suffering streets to a thing of beauty. “Now just move for a minute with me/Let your feet glide in this frequency” – dirty, sexy, seductive, and utterly charming, a Balkan folk tune gets in bed with hip hop on Too Much – I love it! Lucille is an album that pulls you in and takes you with it, as the song says, it’s “Too Much” – your body and soul can’t say no to this music.
Lucille will be launching their first album at The Barby on March 24th, with some amazing guests! Check out the guest list on the event page, here.
Jerusalem album launch – April 12th, Yellow Submarine. Look for updates on the Lucille facebook page.
Vocals: Joes “Rebel Sun” Covington
Drums: Yossi Adi
Bass: Roey Paradny
Keyz n’Synths: Naaman Shadmi
Guitars n’ Programming: Isgav Dotan
Sampler, Synths, Programming: Ilan Levi
Trumpet: Barak Hener
Alto/Tenor Sax: Ilan Adiri
Vocals: Gila Zylber (track 2); Gal de Paz (tracks 4, 7); Yael Deckelbaum (track 8); Kamila Drago (Track 11); Naama Cohen (Track 12).
Additional Horns
Trombone: Maayan Milo (Tracks 2,3,4,5,7,8,10,11,12)
Baritone Sax: Yakir Sasson (Tracks 4, 7, 8)
French Horn: Ben Davis (Tracks 2, 5)
Clarinet: Gal Klein (Tracks 6, 8, 10, 11)
Tuba: Noam Nehemya (Tracks 6, 8, 10, 11)
Baritone: Tal B. R (Tracks 8, 10, 11)
Trombone: Tal B. R (Track 6)
Percussion: Shalev Neeman (Tracks 4, 8)
