LUH
Immediately upon hearing LUH’s ‘I&I’ you are captured by the husky, penetrative vocals of ‘Wu Lyf’s’ Ellery James Roberts. This gnarling sound is both animalistic and angelic, bearing a tarnished sound of hope and release. Paired with the ethereal, wispier voice of Ebony Hoorn a beautiful, dichotomous track is born. The voices are so powerful on their own; therefore, it could be argued that they could not combine in a harmonious way. This is completely unfounded, as the voices work wonderfully in unison, complimenting each other and extracting the best in each others voices as they take turns to alternating the cyclical lyrics of the track, creating a song that is deeper than most due to the combination of such fervent voices. The band’s name itself indicates the tone of its song, with LUH standing for ‘Lost Under Heaven’ – this offers an insight into the transcendental feel that the song take on, offering both bites of heaven and hell in the eclectic sound.
The music itself is not as overt as the vocals; however, this doesn’t differ from its poignance to the track. Whilst the haunting vocals emblaze the track and are arguably the true focal point, the music works to draw out the power that ‘I&I contains. The music contrives a crescendo, emanating gradually and bringing the interest of the listener along with its slow, soft rise. The piano is gentle, offering the intense vocals a lighter, more ethereal feel and taking the song to a heightened plain of feeling and sensation. The heavy pounding of the drum contrasts the piano, a musical representation of the contrasting voices. The song possesses a form of catharsis, the build up of blood rushing to the surface of your skin, the unshakeable feeling that something is coming, rising within you. Something to be released. The musical proliferation enforces this notion of intensification, with the crescendo really coming in at 2:15. This culmination is marked by a rapid progression and volume of the backing music, all drawing together to combine the cyclical lyrics, alternated and slightly overlapping.
Initially, you may be disinclined to listen to the track, finding the voice of Roberts too rough. However, if you merely give it a chance to build, then the music will draw out the beauty that his gravelly tone possesses; it will grip you, envelop you and pull something out of you that you did not know was laying dormant.
The track cuts off too soon, arguably without fully deploying a sense of denouement. However, this is the magic within this song. It ends suddenly, just as something will have been drawn out of you, you will have realised something, felt something, deeply. Thus, LUH are decisive in their clever halting of the track, as they know this is what you need. They are giving you a chance to submerge yourself in silence, left only with your own emotion.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgUGBpSL5kg
