The Luyas

Experimental Canadian indie rock ensemble the Luyas make arty, atmospheric pop. Formed in Quebec in 2006, the band centers around lead vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jessie Stein and also features keyboardist/French horn player Pietro Amato, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2kiN34DD6EDaawrTSxzn3n">Stefan Schneider</a>, and organist Mathieu Charbonneau. The band self-released an EP in 2008 and followed it with the full-length Faker Death in 2009. The Luyas then signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dead+Oceans%22">Dead Oceans</a> and released the album Too Beautiful to Work in February of 2011. In January of 2012, <a href="spotify:artist:2kiN34DD6EDaawrTSxzn3n">Schneider</a> left the band and was replaced by former <a href="spotify:artist:0mEF6nwliNqJuMldWFPuvo">Land of Talk</a> drummer Mark Wheaton. Shortly afterwards, the band began work on their third album, Animator, which saw release on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dead+Oceans%22">Dead Oceans</a> in the fall of 2012. The album was heavily impacted by the death of a close friend of the band's at the onset of recording. With the lineup of Stein, Amato, both Wheaton and <a href="spotify:artist:2kiN34DD6EDaawrTSxzn3n">Schneider</a>, and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3hQGWHGSGwXM8bY7i884Ey">Michael Feuerstack</a>, they followed it with a mostly improvised EP called Says You in 2016. It previewed their first full-length in nearly five years, 2017's Human Voicing, which was also rooted in improvisation and produced by Jace Lasek of <a href="spotify:artist:2hMif9QK1Knz7gD5XIUsER">Besnard Lakes</a>. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi