| Ah, the life of a SoundsXP reviewer; mingling with the musical elite, being plied with copious amounts of alcohol, wanton wenches throwing themselves at our feet… We get none of that. What we do get is the chance to share our passion in music, and hopefully, once in a while, encounter something that touches our hearts and our intellects. Enter London 5-piece luxembourg, describing themselves as ‘pop noir’ and oft likened to such luminaries as Suede, The Smiths, Pulp and The Pet Shop Boys. More importantly luxembourg are developing their own unique, gorgeous Britpop/synth-pop blend combining elegance, eloquence and soaring harmonies. Over scintillating guitar and keyboards, David Shah croons sharply observed tales of life and love, delivered in inimitable Scott Walker/Morrissey tones (‘the man i met at the weekend is making me lose sleep/ignoring my e-mails but sleeping with females’).
Garnering critical acclaim for their addition to ‘The New Cross: An Angular Sampler’ [Angular Records ARC002], luxembourg are regulars on the London club scene, releasing three impressive demos into the bargain, the latest of which, ‘Tourist Information’, was recently Channel 4 Teletext’s Planet Sound ‘demo of the week’.
With record deals, TOTP and mass adulation surely beckoning, luxembourg are: Alex (keyboards), David (vocals), Rob (guitar), Jon (bass) and Steve (drums).
SXP: How did the luxemboys get together?
luxembourg: I think you can trace it all back to contact ads, in one way or another. But, in a nutshell - David, Alex and Steve were in another band together before luxembourg started. The five of us properly started getting it together about two and a half years ago.
SXP: Obvious question, but as you’ve never been there, why luxembourg?
luxembourg: It sounds nice. And it’s the missing link between pirate radio and S&M.
SXP: Define ‘pop noir’.
luxembourg: Pop music minus the prozac. Any air of optimism or gaiety is therefore entirely our own doing.
SXP: Your London dates crop up every couple of weeks. Do you venture outside the capital, and if so, what’s the reaction?
luxembourg: We played in Brentwood once. Rob tackled his flu with vast quantities of vodka and Red Bull and almost brained the sound engineer. We’ve been too scared to repeat the experience. Yet.
SXP: You also play in Paris. What’s your French fan-base like?
luxembourg: They’re very chic and eat a lot of pizza. Not unlike us.
SXP: You’ve had a lot of positive press about your contribution to the New Cross sampler. What’s it done for your profile?
luxembourg: It was nice when a webzine referred to us as Angular Records heroes! I think The New Cross automatically raised people’s awareness of a lot of the acts involved, as well it should. The second ARC compilation is even better, so who knows?
SXP: That you’re unsigned beggars belief. Are there any nibbles at the moment? Surely some label must have some taste?
luxembourg: The whole Angular Recording Corporation thing is very exciting - two guys called Joe doing it for the sheer love of music, way ahead of the rest of the industry in terms of awareness of what’s really going on. If all goes well, there will be a luxembourg single on Angular at some point.
SXP: ‘Tourist Information’ is a brilliant EP and I’d urge people to snap it up while it’s still available. Alas, your first 2 EPs ‘Progress’ and ‘Resistance’, were deleted. Any chance of another run? Or at least full MP3s on your website instead of excerpts? It’s frustrating y’know.
luxembourg: At some point, we’ll probably make at least some of the old recordings available as MP3s. Tourist Information will be deleted on June 7th, but we’ll be making full MP3s of Success Is Never Enough and Make It available on the website. Let Us Have It is featuring on the new ARC compilation, Rip Off Your Labels, also due out on June 7th.
SXP: A lot of luxemlyrics have a melancholic streak, coupled with black humour, and read as though they’re autobiographical. Are they?
luxembourg: Most of David’s lyrics are autobiographical but some aren’t, and he mixes both together. Every human life contains sadness and humour, so it seems only natural that our lyrics should too. Sadly, most people don’t get David’s jokes.
SXP: The production on ‘Tourist Info’ is top notch. How was it working with Darren Allison (Spiritualized, Divine Comedy) and Brian O'Shaughnessy (Primal Scream)? What did they bring to the luxembourg sound?
luxembourg: It was a pleasure from start to finish and will be again soon, we hope. Darren and Brian are both purely interested in capturing how we sound as us. Plus Darren has a cat called Triangle and Brian has a ghost-detecting wavemeter, both of which greatly enhanced the lux sound.
SXP: Your website www.luxembourgweb.co.uk
features the luxembox, the playlist ‘running through our souls’. How important are your influences and how do you incorporate them?
luxembourg: We’re all coming from different places musically - the only album we all own is The Queen Is Dead - so we’d never agree if we consciously tried to copy another artist. More and more, we find ourselves simply sounding like luxembourg, which has to be the aim really.
SXP: Your site also has links to ‘diversions’. Own up, who’s was the tiny fish, and how to draw a diplodocus?
luxembourg: The ability to draw a diplodocus far outweighs the ability to slash your t-shirt just so. We have tried to convince Rob that dinosaurs no longer roam the Earth - he’s not having any of it. Tiny fish are just necessary.
SXP: David, just what is it with houmous?
luxembourg: Houmous is protein in a convenient, vegan form. Actually, I can’t stand the stuff, but I’m too polite to refuse it.
SXP: So, what does the future hold for luxembourg apart from taking over our countryside?
luxembourg: We have more than enough songs for about the first two albums. We’re currently in very tentative discussions with a well-known label, and of course we’ll keep you posted if and when something concrete emerges. Thank you for interviewing us.
SXP: Thank you, Luxembourg.
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