Zoe Randell and Steve Hassett are Australian indie-folk outfit Luluc. The duo’s latest album, Passerby, is creating all the right waves, not least because of the involvement of The National’s Aaron Dessner, who both produced the LP and lent a multi-instrumental hand in the studio.
Opener ‘Small Window’ is pared-back, poetic and heartfelt – sensibilities that define the entire record. These qualities continue on ‘Without a Face’. A few “Oooh, oh-ohs” at the chorus confirm it is the sort of hypnotically chilled number Zach Braff would happily slap onto the soundtrack to one of his movies.
‘Passerby’ keeps the ball in the air – think Dido and Joshua Radin jamming their way through Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits. If the record has a flaw, it’s the lack of variety. Eventually the winsome simplicity of the songs strays towards monotony.
The relatively straightforward ‘Tangled Heart’ and the gritty, instrumental ‘Early Night’ are as close as Luluc come to playing against type. Generally, Passersby is beautiful, well-produced. But no earth was shattered in the making of this album.
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