Taking their fusion of post punk and noise rock to the borders of heavy rock, while sounding thoroughly minimal and precise, Chicago's Luggage reveal Shift, the imposing first single off their incoming third record of the same name.
Shift was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago with Matthew Barnhart (Shearwater, The New Year), and it was captured almost entirely live (with the exception of vocals and a few minor overdubbed embellishments).
"We all worked hard to create a mechanical delivery for the sound, vocals, and lyrics that all act in tandem," Michael Vallera says. "That is really what Shift is for me—an exercise in using as few things as possible to create something larger, something cathartic."
The lyrical influence for Michael Vallera came from the poetry of Louise Glück and Zbigniew Herbert, as the record's lyrics come brief and blunt with an almost epigrammatic approach which adds more sinister feel to the well crafted monotony of the instrumentals.
"If a song would sound good with a beat played on a hi-hat, a kick drum, and a snare drum, I would remove the hi-hat. I spent the time writing this record figuring out a way to make space and absence sound loud and powerful," says drummer Luca Cimarusti.
Shift releases November 22nd, 2019
Video & artist photo by Joshua Ford
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