"Things have not been cool all the time,“ says Samu Kuukka, one of the three members of Helsinki- and Leipzig-based electro / wave / synth pop-trio LSSNS. „It's been a constant up and down in a rollercoaster of desperation." – This fall, LSSNS will release their first album "Transit."
Circumstances are ambivalent when LSSNS start working on their debut album. With their debut EP "Tempest" the band sets a promising impulse. Right off the bat, LSSNS – at that time still named Lessons – recommend themselves as a reference for tasteful, dark synth pop. The title track grows into a veritable indie underground hit. LSSNS play selected concerts throughout Europe and collaborate with artists like Adam Port (Keinemusik) or Magdalena (Diynamic). In Helsinki, in their bunker-like rehearsal room, they put together the ideas for the new tracks, and everything seems to be in exactly the right place.
On the other hand, singer Patrick Sudarski is in a gloomy state, and falls into a deep hole after the recordings: "I was basically a shell back then, and had a hard time, we all had a hard time actually." The artistic process gradually comes to a halt. Soon after, the pandemic sets in, and together with the spatial separation, it throws the musicians into isolation. Back to that non-place that the album title seeks to capture.
For Sudarski, "transit" describes a deceptive state. A movement without moving forward, without development, without getting anywhere at all: "You move from one point to another, with the illusion that something is actually changing. But you're still stuck in the same mud. It's a change that isn't a change." Instead of a transition, „transit" simply describes an empty process, and the frustration that comes from it. Sudarski sees similarities to sleep paralysis: "You move in your head, but your body doesn't react. 'Transit' ends up being a parable of the world we live in," he continues, "We run in every possible way, the whole commercialized world is based on running. And on the pursuit of happiness. We run after happiness, we run away from something, we run away to something. What ever people can hand you to run, you'll take it."
For LSSNS, that race almost means the end. The daily grind, the geographical distance, the fight against one's own shadows. "We had reached rock bottom," Kuukka tells us, "we lacked time, we had no more energy." At some point, however, he realizes why they had formed LSSNS together, and he decides „In no fucking way we gonna abandon this project! I sat back down to the pieces and worked on them like a madman for two months without a break. Even though it wasn't particularly healthy. Not for my relationships, not for me."
A few years earlier, the two musicians and producers Samu and Ville Kuukka interrupt their work, to look for new impressions while traveling. They meet the musician Patrick Sudarski and it clicks immediately. So far, with projects like The Gentleman Losers, Speed Mountain or Montauk, their work is focussed more on Ambient, Post-Rock or some darkened kind indie. With LSSNS, they seek to expand their horizons, challenge themselves on unfamiliar terrain, and grow together. Above all, they allow themselves the luxury of operating outside of time, to discarding complete works when they just still feel right. "I take my cue from neon lights," Kuukka says, „if I see neon lights before my inner eyes while producing, then I know it's working!" He adds, "I'm a night person. And I'm a filmmaker. I look for drama and darkness. And we have a lot of that!"
Thus, light, but much more: shadows can be found in each of LSSNS' tracks. Sudarski tells of trust that's slowly disappearing ("Prophets"), of the ambiguous complexity of mutual dependencies ("Gemini"). "Radical Eye" tells of the urge to change and the fear of losing control along the way. But also of the relief of letting go. "Rewired", in turn, deals with processes of gentrification and their consequences. Finally, "Glory" tells of the naïve dream of a society that changes for the better in the face of a catastrophe. But also about our arrogance in believing that we are invincible even in the very moment of decline.
LSSNS draw their greatest attraction from fractures and breaches. From moments of ambiguity and confusion, when it is actually support and security that we need. In their music, LSSNS are looking for darkness that instead of being threatening, offers a home. A possibility to hide. A very comfortable place. For LSSNS, the perfect darkness has glitter on the edges and small reflections on the outside surfaces. "We've lost the bunker," Kuukka explains. "We work above ground; there's some sunlight now."
"Transit" by LSSNS will be released digitally and on LP vinyl on October 13th, 2023.
LSSNS are Patrick Sudarski and brothers Samu and Ville Kuukka. Best known for their acclaimed post-rock band The Gentleman
Losers, working in projects like Speed Mountain, Montauk, Palestar, or through elegant movie soundtracks, the three have made a name for themselves among fans of classy, dark electro-pop music....more
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