LUTHI Brings the Funk with “Stranger” (premiere)

When most people think of Nashville’s music scene, it’s true that the first thing that comes to mind for them would not be funk. A nine-piece collective, the city’s LUTHI reminds us that there’s more to their city than just country. With their new single, “Stranger”, they do it as loudly and unapologetically as possible too. In doing so, they are proving their mettle as a new take on the big band craze that is every bit as ensnaring and dance-worthy as the music that has made them.

“Stranger” comes in swinging with a big, captivating horn section that persists throughout the song. It builds up, too, with all sorts of synthesizers pervading the tune but never quite wholly taking it over. It isn’t an electronic jam, but the musicians of LUTHI sure know how to give a blend of digital and analog instrumentation its hypnotic pulse. Psychedelic, rhythmic guitar licks are introduced near the song’s end, unrelenting in the groove that the band develops as it consistently evolves over its breezy near-five minute run-time.

LUTHI tells PopMatters, “‘Stranger’ is one of the few songs off of this new record that we’ve been playing live for a minute. Usually things change and mutate and songs become different over time, but this studio version of the song is, even through months of touring, still pretty similar to its original demo. The tight horn parts, synthesizer madness, and trippy octave guitar towards the end of the song were all there from the start.”

“In the studio, we kept jamming through the outro with no intention of keeping any of it, but the more we added and the more we listened, the more comfortable it felt. Like having a cold beer after wrapping up a sweaty show, it’s a nice comedown from the dance party.”

“Stranger” is from off of LUTHI’s forthcoming album of the same name, set to be released on 11 May.

TOUR DATES

May 11 – Album Release Show – Exit/IN – Nashville, TN

May 18 – Hangout Music Festival – Gulf Shores, AL

May 24 – Aisle 5 – Atlanta, GA

May 25 – The Evening Muse – Charlotte, NC with The Go Rounds

May 26 – Songbirds – Chattanooga, TN with Lenox Hills

June 1 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS

June 2 – Cathead Jam – Jackson, MS

June 14 – Three Keys – New Orleans, LA

June 15 – Blue Canoe – Tupelo, MS

June 16 – Slicefest – Birmingham, AL

June 28 – July 1 – Electric Forest’s Second Weekend – Rothbury, MI

September 7 – Iroquois Amphitheater – Louisville, KY with Moon Taxi