Luc LeMans says he “Can’t Lose Again” in his latest single
Vancouver, BC-based artist Luc LeMans has unveiled his latest single, “Can’t Lose Again.”
The track is a 3-minute retro soul whirlwind telling the tale of a chronically unlucky gambler as he bets his last dime — but can he finally win?
Luc shares,
“I originally wrote this song as a tribute to the Motown sound, but quickly realized that it was far too wild and frenetic to fit into the high-gloss Hitsville style — turns out it wasn’t Motown at all, it was Northern Soul! (Northern Soul is basically 60s Motown on speed.) I’ve decided that this song is the first in a new Canadian genre called “Hollywood Northern Soul.” Kind of a play on words, see if you can figure out the Canadian joke!”
Listen to “Can’t Lose Again” below, and learn more about Luc LeMans via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey, Canadian Beats readers! Luc LeMans here — I’m a loop-station musician in Vancouver, playing pop, rock, and soul music. When I was just a little LeMans, my parents took me to see “The Buddy Holly Story” musical at our local theatre, and from then on, I was hooked on rock and roll. Who knows, if it had been a musical about a guy who studies hard, goes into STEM, and gets a well-paying job with a sizeable pension, I might be on a much more sensible career path by now! Unlucky move, Mom and Dad. At night you can find me performing with my guitar and loop station in the local Vancouver bars, and during the day, I retreat like a nocturnal honey-badger to my home studio, writing hooks and producing your favourite new tunes.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
I’m SO excited that my newest release, ‘Can’t Lose Again,’ is finally out — it certainly took long enough! You know how in ‘The Walking Dead’ they’d shoot at the zombies, throw grenades at them, drop pianos on their heads, and the zombies STILL WOULDN’T DIE? That’s what producing this song was like — it took forever and a day to find the right arrangement. In the end, I ended up taking an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach: I took notes from the Motown sound, Stax Soul, Northern Soul (which is basically Motown on speed), and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound style. Violins, Hammond organ, vibraphone, everything that created that killer 60s R&B sound — it’s all in there! Like all my original songs, every part in ‘Can’t Lose Again’ was written, recorded, and produced by yours truly. I could lie and say it’s for artistic integrity, but it’s mostly because I’m cheap. The song tells the tale of a chronically unlucky gambler as he bets his very last dime — but can he finally win? You’ll just have to listen and find out!
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I like to do deep dives into different genres of music and then try to write a song in that same genre. It’s a really fun way of writing — almost like hopping in a time machine — plus it’s great to get the creative tap flowing! For ‘Can’t Lose Again,’ I started by analyzing the key musical components of the ‘Motown Sound.’ Syncopated bass, interlocking guitar lines, Steinway piano, and a few other key elements create that unmistakable Motown style. I used this information as a guide when arranging and recording my own track. Once the recording was done, I popped on my producer hat and researched the production techniques most commonly used by the Motown sound engineers — through a combination of YouTube videos, blogs, and online forums, I tried to get a sense of their approach to production. I then did my best to recreate it with modern digital tools. It’s really incredible that all this esoteric information about music production is right at our fingertips these days— for all its drawbacks, the internet can be a pretty cool place sometimes!
Do you have any upcoming shows or festivals you’d like to tell us about?
I’ve got a few upcoming shows in Vancouver. Still, the one event I’m particularly excited about is on October 21 at 3 pm — I’ll be taking the ferry over to Victoria and playing a set of original music live on CFUV radio! I don’t usually get nervous before shows anymore, but I’ll definitely be a little nervous for this one. But hey, if anyone’s got a face made for the radio, it’s me!
What’s your goal for 2022?
I’m really looking forward to putting out more new music and getting back to playing live shows — everything else right now is icing on the cake. The last couple of years haven’t been much fun for musicians, so I think we’re excited to get back out there and have a good time on stage again! (I’d also like to learn how to bake banana bread, but I guess that’s not really relevant here.)