St. Lucia Releases ‘Utopia I’ EP + North American Headline Tour
April 29, 2022 BY Penny Palmer
Led by husband-and-wife duo South Africa-born Jean-Philip Grobler and Germany-born Patti Beranek, St. Lucia retreats from a fractured world on fire and into the glow of a rapturous synth-spiked electro-pop catharsis—like a dance party at the edge of existence. On the aptly titled Utopia I EP, St. Lucia beams out a light of its own and shines brighter than ever.
“In a way, this is my rebellion against the darkness of the world,” states Jean-Philip. “From the beginning, the name St. Lucia came from me making escapist music. In South Africa, there’s a place called St. Lucia, and it’s similar to the island in the Caribbean because it’s where you escape. It’s utopia. There are many ideas of utopia, whether it means virus-free or a virtual tech utopia. It’s easy to feel depressed these days, so I’m trying to bring something joyous to the world. I was sick of seeing stuff on the Internet, and I just wanted to feel good. That’s what being human is about. We have to feel alive, no matter what is happening around us.”
Patti adds, “I feel really proud of the EP. I think there is purity in it that you can’t describe. You just have to listen and feel it. I think that this comes from having another child, being parents, and being thrown into a weird time in our lives. It unleashes things, and I think we did a good job capturing that.”
Inspired by everyone from David Bowie, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, and Parcels, Jean-Philip wrote and recorded at a feverish pace. They enlisted the mixing talents of trusted collaborator Chris Zane [Passion Pit, The Walkmen] and buttoned up their first new music in four years. The opener “Separate World” rides shimmering keys, handclaps, and a propulsive groove, followed by the retro-pop track “Another Lifetime.” Elsewhere on the EP is first single, “Rocket On My Feet, which hinges on high-register vocals underlined by neon-hued disco keys, and “Memory,” the EP closer that unfurls like a dreamy night-time lullaby. To support today’s EP release, the group shares a euphoric-pop single, “The Golden Age.” “‘The Golden Age’ is always accessible to you,” says Jean-Philip. “You can blame social media or politics. At the end of the day, we can all somehow find stillness within.”
Watch The Visualizer For “The Golden Age” HERE:
Alongside today’s EP release, St. Lucia shares details of their Fall 2022 North American tour, on sale today. The run begins in Boston on October 10 and ends on November 15 with a hometown show at Brooklyn Steel. Renowned for their energetic live shows, this six-week tour is St. Lucia’s first full headline run in four years. See below for the full set of dates, more info, and tickets at stlucianewyork.com/live.
Equal parts colorful disco, 70s funk, and 80s pop, the EP is a luminous palette of synths, pulsating with vibrant sonics that has come to characterize their genre-defying career. Utopia I is available at all digital retailers HERE.
Track List:
- ()
- Separate World
- Another Lifetime
- Rocket On My Feet
- The Golden Age
- Memory
EP Cover Art by Ryan Miller Download HERE
Tour Dates:
10/7 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10/8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/9 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
10/11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Café & Music Hall
10/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
10/14 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
10/15 – Detroit, MI@ St. Andrew’s Hall
10/16 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
10/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
10/19 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
10/21 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
10/24 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
10/25 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
10/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
10/28 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
10/29 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
10/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
11/1 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
11/2 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
11/4 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
11/5 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
11/7 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
11/8 – Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory
11/9 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
11/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
11/12 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/13 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
11/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
About St. Lucia:
St. Lucia has stayed faithful to what they’re best at, putting on incredible live shows everywhere from Coachella to Kansas City, producing shimmery synth-driven pop grooves, and having a damn good time doing what they love. St. Lucia has always stirred good vibes. It started with their debut album, When The Night, which entered the Billboard Top 200 and hit #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Album chart. The follow-up album, Matter, yielded the hit “Dancing On Glass,” while the band collaborated with Jack Antonoff, RAC and others. Two years later, Hyperion represented a creative and critical high watermark with praise from Billboard, who hailed the album as “buoyant,” and PopMatters who raved, “it feels revelatory.” St. Lucia beams out a light of their own and shines brighter than ever with their latest EP, Utopia I (out now via Nettwerk).
