Hailing from Winsford – a forgotten town between Manchester and Liverpool – The Luka State aren’t overly concerned with the loftier heights of the rock’n’roll dream. Their gritty new album, ‘More Than This’, is an unapologetic state of the nation address, and a record born of the only world they know.
Ellis, along with his hometown childhood friends Sam Bell (bass, vocals), Lewis Pusey (guitar) and Jake Barnabas (drums), dropped their self-funded debut album ‘Fall In Fall Out’ in 2021 to media attention and critical acclaim, but also a world gone quiet due to the pandemic. “It was hard to connect with the wider world when we were all stuck at home, so we couldn’t see what impact we’d had on the scene, the industry and the wider world,” remembers Ellis.
The bulk of the album was recorded at The Motor Museum in Liverpool (previously used by The 1975 and Bring Me The Horizon) with producers Dan Austin (You Me At Six, Pixies) and the Grammy Award- winning Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse). It’s a small space, chosen to reflect the claustrophobia and tension that the songs were written in. The results are the most aggressive, visceral and immediate work of the band to date, fearlessly exploring the darker shadows of modern working-class life.
The world is open again now and The Luka State can take their new material out on the road with live performances that have been described as “exuding pure gasoline”. At every show, they’re approached by fans who have been touched by their music and are grateful for feeling less alone – regardless of where they’re from in the world. Despite most people not knowing where Winsford is, everyone knows someone feeling what The Luka State are singing about...You’re gonna be hearing a lot about the need for empathy, understanding and action on mental health and general welfare from this band.
“This album is a rebirth for us,” concludes Ellis. “Like every other band, we want to take over the world, but we want our message to be heard. We’re not just some standard rock’n’roll band. No one out there must feel alone. There’s a way through everything and we can do it together. We can take over the world together.”
