Lucero - When You Found Me (Album Review)

My belated introduction to Lucero was via their 2018 release ‘Among The Ghosts’ which proved to be one of the very best releases of that year. The tone was dark, the sound widescreen and the songs dragged you in and held on tight. I was lucky enough to catch Lucero at the Black Deer Festival in 2019 where on a bright sunny afternoon deep in the English countryside their songs proved equally effective as they would in a sweaty club. It was a powerful, gritty performance that reinforced my opinion that Lucero is at the top of their game. For the follow up to ‘Ghosts’ frontman Ben Nichols has expanded on the third-person, character-driven approach that had crept into his writing for ‘Ghosts’. Nichols mixes up family-driven tales of love and redemption firmly rooted in reality with interesting diversions into campfire tales and folklore. The other innovation to the Lucero sound finds Rick Steff employing a host of vintage synth sounds to bolster his usual organ/piano armoury. The resulting album could well turn out to be one of the best records of their career.

In July of 2020, Lucero and producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Drive-by Truckers) returned to the historic Sam Phillips Recording Studio, in their hometown of Memphis for two weeks of socially-distanced, mask-wearing recording sessions. Due to a lack of rehearsals, caused by the Covid-19 situation, Nichols presented the band with more complete demos than is his usual practice. These recordings acted as a guide to the band members who then, according to Nichols, did a great job of making them their own and delivering a classic rock record that didn’t sound retro. You’d think this might be difficult with the addition of synthesizers but the band nailed it.

The opening one, two punch of ‘Have You Lost Your Way’ and ‘Outrun The Moon’ perfectly encapsulates the sound the band was looking to capture. On the former Nichols southern drawl sets the scene as he recounts the tale of a young girl standing her ground against a dark, shadowy figure. Behind Nichols strident vocal the instrumentation builds on a bed of rhythm guitar crunch as those vintage synths pulse and swirl while guitarist Brian Venable adds bright, ringing guitar lines before the drums kick in. It’s dark, moody and a powerful statement of intent. ‘Outrun The Moon’ was the perfect introduction to the new record when released as the lead single late last year. Synthesizers are again to the fore, while the duelling guitar lines should please older fans. ‘Coffin Nails’ is more stripped back and Nichols way with a lyric is as impressive as ever “I weigh my deeds on my father’s scales. I balance them with coffin nails” as he switches from biographical detail to unexpected moments of haunting menace “Something from the dark came down the night John Rufus died. It landed on the window sill. And there it cried all night”. The slow-build drone of ‘Pull Me Close Don’t Let Go’, finds Nichols at his most world-weary and defeated before things kick up several gears for the classic rock of ‘Good As Gone’ with its syncopated guitar figure and pounding rhythm track reminiscent of 80s Springsteen or Bon Jovi at their most stadium ready.

Side two (record buyers) finds piano again to the fore as an abrasive fiddle adds tension to ‘All My Life’ - which reads like Nichols now has a reason to come off the road and return home to family. ‘The Match’ features one of Nichols more folky lyrical moments on a tale that involves a drunken man and the vision of a witch. Musically the band are at their most alt-country and a neat chorus hook ties things together pretty well but it still feels a little like two songs stitched together. The guys are more than capable of keeping things simple, straight up and rockin’ as demonstrated via the insistent riffing on the catchy, piano-driven ‘Back In Ohio’ ( I'm sure those bursts of saxophone would have Clarence Clemons looking down with a big smile). Or expanding into something far grander as demonstrated by the epic ‘This City On Fire’ where the cleansing power of fire “False fronts burn away” is as much mental as it is physical. The track is an album highlight as it builds to a crescendo with the mix of Steff’s demonic piano battling with crashing waves of guitar/synth noise as drums pound mercilessly. The album concludes with the title track, an ode to the redemptive power of love “When you found me in the fire I was drinking kerosene. Striking matches as the flames were growing higher. No way you could get to me. But you found a way. You found a way for me to find my way to you” delivered by Nichols in a lower register than usual which works well.

‘When You Found Me’ could easily be Lucero’s most commercial record to date. The desire to update their sound while remaining true to their roots seems to be a success. There’s more than enough to keep old fans connected while bringing new listeners on board for the journey. I also have a strong feeling that the songs on ‘When You Found Me’ will have incredible power live when that opportunity presents itself. With twenty years of hard road miles on the clock, it looks like the band had to decide how to move forward and they chose evolution. It was a brave move but it’s looking like the right call.

Buy on Amazon