Hotel Lux ‘Daddy was a bad guy/His hands upon my thigh’. So
We were looking for a way to expand our sound, from
declares vocalist Lewis Duffin on Hotel Lux’s newest
our first two singles, and because of the music HMLTD
single, Daddy, successfully inhabiting status as both
produce, he seemed like a clear way to do that. They’re
the bands’ most refined offering to date and yet their
great songwriters, they really think about every part of the
most decidedly radio unfriendly. Originally hailing from
song- we learnt a lot from working with him. We weren’t
Portsmouth, it is the quintet’s willingness to eschew the
lazy songwriters before, and maybe we just preferred a
conventional in pursuit of uncomfortable reality that truly
rawer sound on the first two singles, but it wasn’t what we
sets Hotel Lux apart from many of their contemporaries.
wanted to exclusively do anymore. Now we’re going to try
With a sound best described as The Stranglers fronted
and put together an almost dumbed down version of that, to
by Mark E. Smith, their music evokes a certain twisted
find a sweet spot in the middle.
cynicism that seems to both rage and glory at the quasidystopian actualities depicted within the universe of
Flicking through a couple of other pieces that have been
Duffin’s vocals, as he alternates from apathetic drawl to
written on you, there seems to be a real fetishization of
guttural growl. Having recently toured with the likes of
sorts around the idea that you are the ‘working-class
Shame, and with a host of larger headline gigs under their
cult heroes’ in a group of super middle-class bands. Is
belt (most notably London’s Moth Club), it seems the
this something you embrace?
particular brand of post-Brexit-punk practised by the Lux is No, it’s horrible! A lot of my lyrics are telling stories about
just getting started.
experiences particular to the working-class, because that The new single, ‘Daddy’ contains some fairly heavy
is my reality- but I certainly wouldn’t want the band to be
lyrical imagery- could you elaborate on the inspiration
paraded and defined as just a product of that. ‘Class’ is
behind the song?
a weird one. The whole fetishization and glorification of being working-class is so boring, especially when it’s just
So near Portsmouth, there’s this place called Paulsgrove.
not who you are. But the fact the ‘working-class’ nature
Around 2001, there was supposedly this halfway house set
of my lyrics comes up in every fucking interview I think
up for people who’d been in prison for stuff like sexual
means we should move on.
assault- it’s quite a rough place anyway, but the locals found out about these ex-offenders living there and there were
In a lot of your lyrics, there is a sense of anger and
genuine riots, in this tiny place, in a protest about them
injustice- is anger important as creative fuel to the
living there. I also always loved Shane Meadows [This is
band?
England] and Alan Clarke, these directors talking about terrible, real, things. It’s about confronting these subjects,
Anger is as important as love and everything else. I don’t
not wanting to sugar coat or shy away from discussing
like the concept of bands refusing to play love songs
them.
because ‘that’s been done’. So have fucking hate songs! But as a band, we’ve done the writing about despair, and we
I was surprised to see that Duc from HMLTD produced
now want to create stuff about the positive parts of negative
‘Daddy’- how did this pairing occur?
emotion- the hope etc. But I guess the music you most connect with reflects your mood, and that extends to what you write. So maybe I’ve just been angry too much!
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Words by Dan Pare, illustration by Bo Matteini
