LLUX

by Isabella Soares

Times like these are truly unprecedented. Despite the cancellation of anticipated summer festivals and the closure of concert venues, Winnipeg based-band LLUX decided to remedy the chaos with the release of their debut album The Drive. 

Stylus had the chance to chat with lead singer Lindsay Thomson about finding her own sound during production and creating lyrics that lived up to the experiences she had in the past years. 

Kenora-born Lindsay Thomson knew from early on that she wanted to form a band one day that embraced the name LUX. After moving to Ottawa to study songwriting at Carleton University, she was able to unite a group of girls and make her dream a reality. The female driven rock group had their glory days, but they were short-lived. However, Thomson decided to give her goal a second try, this time with an additional “L”.

“I decided to go back with LLUX when I was in the studio, because it had always been a dream… I thought that if I was going to spend the time and save up for this record, then I might as well do it exactly how I envisioned it.”

Once a studio deal and band was in check, it seemed like the hardest part had gone by. Yet, there came the process of composing songs that suited their indie power-pop sound. 

“I worked very closely with Murray Pulver, and we spent hours fiddling around with different arrangements for the songs. We took the lyrics and music and focused on the sound and what inspirations I had influencing what I wanted the music to sound like.”

A songwriter since she was 11, to Lindsay the words came naturally when it came to writing about others’ stories, but challenging when the thoughts and experiences were her own. 

“When I was growing up and writing music, I wrote a lot about other people and their relationships because I found them so interesting…I felt I wasn’t comfortable writing about my own life, because at the time I thought I didn’t have much experience coming from a small town where everything stayed the same all the time.”

Gladly, she was able to open up and lay out honest, bold, and incredibly relatable tracks on her debut EP. With themes that range from a long-term relationship and feeling unsure about staying or moving back to your hometown, the secret ingredient was finally revealed. “What was helping the growth in my music was being honest.” 

Although The Drive came at a moment where we are unable to appreciate its delightful, heartwarming, and summery vibe at a live event, the possibility of attending a show in the future is still an option. 

“Essentially everything has been cancelled, we had shows planned up until the end of the summer…Once the band is able to do live shows, we would like to have a celebration for our EP. release. We hope to do a night in Winnipeg, a night in Kenora and a night in Sioux Narrows (a small town right outside Kenora). We want to celebrate with everyone who supported it.”

While we anticipate performances from highly energetic tracks such as “The Drive” and “Molly”, or the guitar-led ballad “Do I Think About You Too Much”, we can continue to appreciate them on repeat on our earphones, or blast them during a car ride under the sunshine. Whether it’s for the beat or the lyrics, Lindsay finished our interview sharing that her greatest wish is for people to feel when they listen to her music. 

“I simply want people to feel any emotion evoked through my music…If people can connect with it then I’d love that. If they are happy, then I will be happy as well. If they are sad when they listen to it, then maybe they have gone through the same thing… I just hope that people just feel.”