Directly contrasting with the streamlined intensity of the Juvenilia EP she released back in 2022, LUCI is back today with a debut album that explores all of the emotional and musical nooks and crannies she overlooked on the more traditionally rap-inspired prior project. They Say They Love You was preceded by a slew of singles that leaned further into pop music while exploring the rainbow at the end of a rainstorm in the case of “11:11,” or aimed to pump up both audience and artist in the face of adversity, as was the MO of “Martyr.”
But these are only the first two tracks on a 10-song LP that takes all sorts of surprising turns, with LUCI even explaining that a few items on the tracklist initially felt too out-of-pocket to the artist herself to make the final cut. Picking back up some of her old intensity on the lightly psychedelic slow-jam “Rockwichu,” the album proceeds to bounce back and forth between vibe-y cloud rap, tensely upbeat hip-hop, and innovative art-pop as the music’s vocal throughline covers topics ranging from ill-fated relationships to self-love.
With a powerful team of producers and other collaborators behind the boards on the record (including Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa), you can finally stream the full album as it arrives today via Don’t Sleep Records. Additionally, you can find LUCI’s track-by-track breakdown of the project below.
1. “Martyr”
Gotta fight real hard for what they believe in a world where people doubt you and look at you sideways when you’re certain. Fuck ’em.
2. “11:11”
I was challenged to [write] a pop song, and there you have it. Shake a tail feather! I actually vouched for this to be a single that did not appear on the album because it didn’t align with my idea of a darker-themed album, but that wasn’t flying with the label. This is definitely one of those songs where when I was recording it I knew I’d have a love-hate relationship with it forever. It’s so different from anything I’ve released before. And people I wouldn’t have even expected have mentioned it’s one of their favorites. Sometimes your own genius can go over your head.
3. “Lips”
I was so insistent on this song making it on the album, and now…I’m not sure why. I have so many better songs. A year ago you couldn’t have convinced me otherwise. Maybe I’ve heard it too many times. Sorry, I can be self-deprecating. The story behind the song is funny. Jack was obsessed with Sean Paul’s “Get Busy” around the time and sent me this beat three days before I was leaving from PA to NY to shoot the video for “Gnarly.” I’d been kind of courting this woman from Brooklyn that I was so excited about. I asked her out via email and I was feeling myself when she hit me with the “yes.” I learned that maybe I was too excited. I think I looked at her Instagram too much, honestly. That bullet was tough to take, but fuck it—we ball!
4. “Rockwichu”
This track needs to be featured in queer films. For me, this is when the album starts to move. I don’t know what it is, but when I get in the studio with Sully, my gates are unlocked. I just closed my eyes and sang. I fell into all the deepest moments with my lover. I was so wrapped in my new relationship feels. It felt good to melt for a moment. I was hardly thinking. I just let my lips fall open as it pleased. Note: Lesbian love is so good!
5. “Thunder Calling”
This song is so dynamic. The first minute and a half or so was recorded and I don’t think I’d been in the studio five minutes. I was 10 months out of a five year relationship, and six months deep into what felt like a fantasy. I’d been living on my own for the first time ever. I’d just parted ways with my manager and was terrified, honestly—learning so many new things about myself, the industry, and the world at large. I was redefining so many things for myself—love, home, money, and self-love. And even time. And I had my lover to talk to about it all at the end of every day. Pillow talking and manifesting together through it all—making love. And this song encompasses all of that to me. It appears all over the place because I am, usually. I feel like a thunderstorm.
6. “Inside”
This is one of the first songs Lou and I made before we’d even had a conversation on the phone. Back in 2021 he sent a package over and it was perfect timing with this beat. I was just stowing away in my studio. I hated everything outside of it. I’d just signed my first deal and things felt good in the world of music, but my security was lacking. My home was broken. The water felt deep and troubled, but this beat helped me ride the waves. This song is me digging myself up from the grave as I felt buried alive. I believe it was March, too. Spring was upon us, but the seasonal depression was only just beginning to wear off.
7. “Spins”
I was in a moment of appreciating where I’d been and how far I’d come. I was just in a place of letting go of everything that wasn’t serving me—from people to thoughts—and making room for so much more. I was listening to Future’s I Never Liked You a lot. This song kinda reminds me of “The Way Things Goin’.” Even the music video was inspired by his music videos. I grapple with the need to be accepted by the culture I’m made from, and this was unintentionally a display of that.
8. “Call Jane”
Jane is my therapist. I’d just gotten off a heated argument with my grandma and, after not having any communication with my mother for a whole year and dealing with all the shit I’d been growing through in the past year alone on top of that, I was so fed up. I work so hard every day. I get triggered easily by toxic familial energy. Those curses I’m working so hard to break are why I’m in therapy. And when I’m out here making progress day to day, whether struggling or thriving (with or without anyone knowing), I refuse to have someone who doesn’t see me try to diminish me through a cell phone. It hurts when they get you wrong, because you get to see how hardly people really know who you are and how little they care about how you are even—family not excluded. These are words from the black sheep.
9. “Morning Wine” [bonus track]
This song is such a big deal to me. Fully the most beautiful song I’ve ever produced. I’m so thankful for everyone involved. It’s a song about relentless love—even when it hurts and you feel unseen. It’s an unraveling of emotions, and at that an abstract ballad. I still can’t decide if I chose the right kick but, righteously, this is a masterpiece. And I wanna thank Edmund Irwin-Singer, Stella Mozgawa,Chase Gorter, Jackson Scott, and my lost friend Rachel Herman for their contributions to this song and believing in the life of my ideas. It means a lot and is so reassuring that what I want is possible. This song is a foreshadow into where I’m headed next.
10. “Stay Steady”
This song is honestly such a cliffhanger and I love it. I’m reflecting on how the body reacts when you don’t treat it right. If you know, you know.
