Montreal’s The Luyas make dark, atmospheric indie pop. In the vein of Broadcast and Blonde Redhead, they fuse haunting instrumentation with sweet female vocals for an intriguing result. The band signed to Dead Oceans for their 2011 debut, Too Beautiful to Work, and released a follow-up, Animator, in 2012. The album, a darker fare than their debut, was purportedly influenced by the death of a band friend. But that’s not to say it’s a cheerless listen — Animator is filled with plenty of the fantastic pop songs that first brought attention to The Luyas.
“Fifty Fifty,” the first single off Animator, continues their boundary-pushing attitude towards pop music. Jesse Stein, the Luyas’ singer/guitarist, provides sparkling vocals that counterpoint the moody guitars. This pairing of ingredients, the shimmering vocals over darker instrumentation, is more or less what makes the Luyas’ sound so fascinating.
The Luyas will play Madison on June 21 as a part of Jonk Music’s Solskinn event. Their sophomore album, Animator, is out now via Dead Oceans.