Lucien Dante

Our Of We by Lucien Dante

Lucien Dante is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and producer hailing from Chicago in the States. Gifted in music and the arts from a young age, a turning point came at the age of sixteen, when he went to Germany on an exchange program. It was there that he realized he wanted to produce music and wrote his first songs which featured on his album, First Breath.

Since then, he has signed to DEG Records and already released three singles and the EP Lights. Our Of We is his debut album and consists of eighteen tracks (with a few songs being bonus tracks). Lucien worked with four different producers in creating the album and so the songs are varied in style and sound. He cites other singer songwriters like James Blake and Bon Iver as big influences, but he undoubtedly has a musical and lyrical style all of his own.

Essentially, I would classify his music as electro pop, with a production sheen throughout that gives it a modern, cutting edge sound. The focal point is undoubtedly Lucien's remarkable voice, which has a crystalline, ethereal tone and an emotional vulnerability that can be powerful. He tends to sing in the upper apart of his range, which is a style currently hugely popular due to artists like Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran.

The album has an intriguing introductory track that only lasts a minute, consisting of a spoken word dedication poem to the person who inspired the album. The next track Worldwide is a fine piece of electronic pop that features a four to the floor beat and an excellent vocal. It's about the worldly wisdom and perspective you get through travelling: 'If you want to live in the worldwide, gotta be worldwise!'

Love Me Lessons (I'm a Be) feat. Lu Reads comes next, a blissed out and hypnotic electro RnB track which contains the simple but poignant hook 'I found love in the openness of your heart...'. Unexpectedly, after the second chorus it features a fluent rap from Lu Reads, which works well within the context of the song. It is unusual these days for solo artists not to feature guest vocalists or rappers on their tracks and Lucien is no exception.

Cradle Me Germany is another excellent showcase for Lucien's voice, a slow piano ballad with RnB overtones, like the lush backing harmonies. He sings some parts in an angelic falsetto and the chorus is emotive : 'Germany, cradle me... there's a life you gave to me..'. Fans of Sam Smith will love this well crafted song. Fifth track Spark is a nice contrast, a pop dance track with a Robert Miles style musical backing. It works well as an album track, but is tailor made for the clubs with a pulsating kick-heavy beat.

Lake House Glory carries on the dance vibe, though this one has a more laid back, summery feel. It's about escaping with a lover for a holiday, and features some typically quirky lyrics: 'Just like karaoke carries you, I'll carry you away....'. Tell Me Why returns to the dreamy languid pace and electro pop of earlier tracks. Lyrically, it is about a lover with emotional issues: 'Tell me why would you let me waste away? I don't got the heart for playing games, so tell me why....'.

Beowulf is at a similar pace with a sparse musical backing, but the music is filled out by some breathtaking vocal harmonies that weave in and out of the song. The lyrics are societal rather than personal and very serious, originally about the tragedy of the Sandy Hook shooting. Lucien explains that 'it explores a much deeper and broader issue about the destructive ways through which we raise male youth in America'.

#Should I Wait (the hash tag is part of the title - very modern!) returns to a romantic theme. It's a slinky RnB track with a very catchy chorus, aided by a swirling synth sound. Lucien shows no fear in being gender specific in his songs and is brave in his openness and honesty about his sexuality. However, though it's written from the perspective of a young gay man, love songs are universal. A great track and a potential single.

Ivory Toast is a fun upbeat dance track that takes Lucien from the deepest part of his range to the highest part of his falsetto, while Hookup (Romance) is a sultry, slow song that creates a sensual vibe. It's a track to play when you're on the sofa with a prospective lover and want to set the mood. Mr. Drugman is a late highlight, a funky RnB song about decadence and hedonism with the line : 'Lately, sex feels like a commodity...'.

The album concludes with two piano ballads, Wolf and Dylan's Keep, that are both excellent pieces of songwriting and feature some of his most poetic and powerful lyrics. There are a few good bonus tracks as well, which makes it eighteen altogether, an impressive amount for any album but especially for a debut.

Overall, this is an album that impresses in every aspect, as Lucien Dante excels as a singer and songwriter in equal measure. The production is both modern and cutting edge, which makes it perfect for radio. He fits in perfectly with the current strategist of male songwriters being emotionally honest and vulnerable in their music. He brings to mind someone like Rufus Wainwright, but with the commercial potential
to become one of the major pop stars of his generation.

Alex Faulkner (The Faulkner Review) - Alex Faulkner

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Lucien Dante, hails from Chicago in the USA, but the turning point in his artistic career took place in Germany, when he was sixteen years old. As sophomore in high school, Dante participated in an exchange program that took him to Germany and led him to recognize his passion and desire to perform and produce music. This led to the songs featured on his album, “First Breath”.

Since then, Lucien Dante has signed to DEG Records, and released three singles as well as the EP “Lights”. His debut full-length album is entitled “Our Of We” and contains 15 tracks plus 3 bonus songs. This is a rare album. Luscious, layered, modern, edgy, moody, distinctive and full of emotion – from performance to production – the attention paid to detail is impeccable. All the while Dante, with his melodically pronounced voice, gently induces us into dreamlike ecstasy throughout the album, where his vocals are clear and never obstructed by the production.

Right from the punchy opening track, “Worldwise” and the sultry “Love Me Lessons (Imma Be) Feat. Lu Reads”, everything, from Dante’s earnest, crystalline vocals, to the impeccable electronic music arrangements, make this effort a particularly special and poignant one. It gets even better by the time you arrive to the piano-driven “Tell Me Why” and the sublime “Beowulf” with its sensual falsettos.

Dante seems to have a byzantine understanding of music. The way he presents his cryptic ideas is gorgeously groundbreaking. His dreamy, unusual sound is mixed perfectly and layered with just the right amounts of vocal effects and musical wizardry, and is splendidly evident on “#ShouldIWait” and “Mr.Drugman”.

“Ivory Toast” serves as a natural vehicle for Dante’s ever-reaching vocal range, while “Black Water” showcases his ability stimulate deep and dark emotions with a soft filtering voice and a minimal music background. If you enjoy dance-inducing electronic drops with soul, depth and creativity, then fast forward to the bonus tracks, “Pulsing” and “Tonight”.

Lucien Dante seems to successfully bridge the distinct sounds of various genres to conceive his own hybrid electronic pop and soul style. “Our Of We” is a record that has a song for every emotion you’ll likely experience, no matter what your sex…or even in spite of it! It has been meticulously crafted over 18 tracks with the use of an incredible range of sounds, beats and vocals.

The sonic scope of “Our Of We” is fairly large, and there is something to be said about an album that grows bigger with every listen. The songs are all immediately intriguing at first listen, but explore a little more and a surprising amount of sonic depth begins to reveal itself. These songs are rich and have plenty to offer on repeat listens. There’s plenty here that’s catchy, and the album as a whole moves the soul.

Lucien Dante has proven himself as a performing and recording artist, with the release of “Our Of We”. This is a colossal achievement for his proper full-length debut, and I suspect we’ll be hearing much more of Lucien Dante in the future. - jamsphere.com

Lucien Dante (review + interview)

Some artists do no simply play songs to a crowd or sing catchy melodies. Their personalities are actually extremely important components of their entire act, as they actually strive to express themselves through their sound and push their creative boundaries in order to create something that is not simply fun and entertaining, but also meaningful and beautiful. Lucien Dante definitely belongs to this category, as showcased by the eclectic approach on his new album “Our Of We”.

The genre-defying sound of the album uses Lucien’s vocals and lyrics as a catalyst to hold the entire vision together, a sort of common thread that adds an unmistakable flare and personality to each and every single song, and eventually, to the album as a whole.

“My voice literally comes from within me” – With such inspirational and powerful words, Lucien does a great job describing the importance of the lyrics of a song to him. Although he collaborated with different producers in order to achieve more variety on the album, he did work on the lyrics on his own, focusing on allowing his most intimate and personal thought to be translated to music. Read on to get some insights into this brilliant songwriter directly from the artist himself…. check out the full interview!





I love how you manage to render your tracks so personal and organic. Does the music come first, or do you focus on the lyrics the most?



Answer:

Thank you! It all depends on the track, but principally everything comes simultaneously. On my album Our Of We, since I worked with four producers, the music and lyrics were more separated than they are when I work completely on my own, but even with Our Of We, the songs came together very organically. I focus on everything with equal amounts of attention to detail and necessity and meaning. With my voice and my lyrics, however, I have most control, simply because my voice literally comes from within me, and my lyrics are written by only me. Everything in life has so many connotations; I tend to be super specific and particular with what I use to express my art. Usually everything noticeable is a very conscious decision by my producers and I.





Do you perform live? If so, do you feel more comfortable on a stage or within the walls of the recording studio?



Answer:

I feel very comfortable both in and out of the recording studio. Something significantly different on stage, however, is all the energy from the audience. When you’re in a recording studio, it’s a completely different world; you’re thinking about sculpting every line to perfection and also about when you’re going to be able to take a food break haha. When you’re performing live, it goes by extremely fast and you’re much less conscious of what is going on in your head. At least that is how it is for me. I have had very little opportunity to perform live so far, but I think that will change this summer.



If you could only pick one song to make a “first impression” on a new listener, which song would you pick and why?



Answer:

I would choose Tell Me Why. It is a song that feels timeless and endless and continuously full of discovery. It also is a great example of my voice, my production and songwriting, and how I collaborate with other musicians. Tell Me Why is about the only person I’ve ever been in love with, and since I credit him as the reason why I’m a musician, well that speaks for itself haha. It’s a very special song and I think it has a way of captivating whoever is listening to it and putting them in a sort of trance.



What does it take to be “innovative” in music?

Answer:

Really great question! In order to be an innovative musician, or an innovative anything, you must be a conscious human being. You must be aware of yourself and free within yourself. You must live in light and not in fear if you want to discover things that have not yet been discovered. In essence, you just have to be your true, pure self. Once you start expressing other people rather than expressing yourself, you begin to lose your innate ability to be the individual that you were when you were born. Innovation is all about individuality and individuality is all about unique expression.

Any upcoming release or tour your way?



Answer:

A few days ago I released my EP Lights, and in less than two weeks, my 17 song album Our Of We will be released. I can’t believe it’s finally going to enter the public world after a year of working on it! Haha :D It’s so crazy and exciting for me! I hope people take time to understand the meaning of the lyrics, as they are very deep and sometimes fairly subdued.

I have my debut performance on July 7th at Club Nokia in LA and after that, a music video and potential tour in the California area. Right now my energy is focused on finishing up the artwork for Our Of We as well as preparing for my debut. J

Anywhere online where curious fans can listen to your music and find out more about you?

Answer:

Yes! I have many places where I express myself. Here are the links:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lucien-dante

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqzb4z2xb4tq6Pqh7UxeANg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/luciendante

Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciendante/

Vevo: http://www.vevo.com/artist/lucien-dante

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucien-Dante/215741628482680

Personal Website: http://luciendante.co/ - Bandcampdiaries.com

LONG BEACH, Calif., Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — On the verge of releasing his full length LP “Our of We,” Lucien Dante signed an endorsement deal with custom in-ear monitor company EarWerkz.

After being scouted to personally audition for the producer of ABC’s “Rising Star” and being approached by Pandora to include his music into their exclusive library, this makes the third time Lucien has been offered an opportunity without going through the normal audition or approval process.

DEG Records President John De La Torre said, “Lucien definitely has that unique sound that defines a genre and with a rapidly growing social fan base of over 75,000 and over 242,000 in YouTube views, we are very excited about this latest opportunity.”

EarWerkz VP Sales and Marketing Jack Vang agrees saying, “Lucien Dante immediately stood out to us as a pure, free-spirited, and incredibly talented artist. Just one listen to ‘Cradle Me Germany’ and we just knew that we had to have him on team EarWerkz.”

When asked what made him consider Lucien a perfect fit to represent the EarWerkz brand Vang said, “There are many factors when considering artist endorsements and Lucien just fills them all. He’s a very welcome addition to the roster and we look forward to seeing him rise to the top while representing our products.”

EarWerkz is a rapidly growing company in Atlanta, Georgia that specializes in handcrafting only the finest in custom in-ear monitors.

DEG Records is an independent record label out of Long Beach, California.

All the latest information about Lucien can be found at http://luciendante.co/ that includes links to all his social media outlets. His EPK can be found at http://artistecard.com/LucienDante.

Contact: John De La Torre – DEG Records – (562) 684-0883, Email - PRNewswire