The Luka State announce ‘More Than This’

This year has seen The Luka State power back to attention with their most aggressive, visceral and immediate songs to date, which fearlessly explore the darker shadows of modern working-class life. Previewed by extensive touring across the UK and North America, their recent tracks have been highlighted at 6 Music and BBC Introducing, while widespread international streaming support has included Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and Deezer. Now The Luka State step up their mission by announcing the March 10th release of their new album ‘More Than This’, which they launch by sharing its title track and new single, plus also announce details of a major UK & European Tour kick starting on the 23^rd March in Birmingham. Listen to ‘More Than This’ HERE.

The single ‘More Than This’ is a fiery statement of intent, think early Arctic Monkeys multiplied by the breakneck urgency of Biffy Clyro and the sharp-tongued worldview of Paul Weller. It’s a damning portrait of a hungry family in broken Britain, as vocalist/guitarist Ellis Conrad hollers, “I’m late on the rent now and my kids go hungry for the third time this week / And I can’t deny that the system keeps failing me over and over again.”

It’s a heart-breaking tale and one that Ellis witnessed first-hand. During the pandemic he was working as a delivery driver, taking food parcels to struggling families. Each week he’d visit a single mother and her two sons. She sacrificed everything to provide for them, working two jobs but still struggling to get by. And in the weeks that followed, she lost both jobs. It’s a tragic tale set in the band’s home of Winsford (near both Manchester and Liverpool), but one that is being played out in repeat across the UK.

NEW ALBUM ‘MORE THAN THIS’ TO BE RELEASED ON MARCH 10TH
PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE HERE

Ellis says, “She was just inconsolable, but she invited me in, we sat down and we started having a conversation. She said, ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t take drugs. I don’t do anything untoward. All I was trying to do was give my boys a life better than my own. I was working two jobs a week and now I have nothing. The system’s failed me, I feel like I deserve more than this.’

It absolutely broke my heart. What she was saying wasn’t coming from a place of entitlement. It was her pleading for her basic human needs to be met. Food. Water. Shelter. Heat. It was made worse by the fact she was a parent, and I can imagine millions of parents are still going through a similar experience.”

The song provides a taste of the ‘More Than This’ album, an incredible personal set of songs which saw the band – completed by childhood friends Sam Bell (bass, vocals), Lewis Pusey (guitar) and Jake Barnabas (drums) – put their heart and soul into the project. They started the record shortly after their self-funded debut album ‘Fall In Fall Out’ was released in the midst of the pandemic, a time when songwriting became a rare form of escapism from the gloom around them. But when the world opened up and The Luka State could return to the stage, they found legions of fans who had connected with their debut album’s punchy stories of hometown life and knew every word.