ST. LUCIA RELEASES “UTOPIA” LP VIA NETTWERK + KICKS OFF ‘UTOPIA’ NORTH AMERICAN TOUR + SHARES “GIMME THE NIGHT” MUSIC VIDEO

Led by husband-and-wife duo, Jean-Philip Grobler and Patti Beranek, synth-pop group St. Lucia has arrived with their long awaited fourth studio album Utopia, via Nettwerk. In addition to the album release, St. Lucia’s music video for “Gimme The Night” will premiere, where director Nicole Lipp’s vision comes to life, starring model Ireland Basinger Baldwin.

Equal parts colorful disco, 70s funk, and 80s pop, the Utopia LP is a luminous palette of synths, pulsating with vibrant sonics that have come to characterize St. Lucia’s genre-defying career. Inspired by everyone from David Bowie, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, and Parcels, St. Lucia enlisted the mixing talents of trusted collaborator Chris Zane (Passion Pit, The Walkmen) to help steer the sonically sparkling ship to greater heights.

When referring to Utopia, frontman Jean-Philip expresses, “Our vision for ‘Utopia,’ that only emerged as we were working on it, was to make an album that was the antidote to the last few crazy years, while also acknowledging what we collectively went through. We could have just made a sad record. We could have pretended we were happy the whole time. But both of those would’ve been a lie. What we went through was one of the most extreme periods of our lives: extreme isolation, extreme intimacy, extreme sadness and, at times, moments of extreme elation and joy when reunited with loved ones. We needed to somehow process the ambiguity of that experience, and the making of ‘Utopia’ was our therapist.”

In “Gimme The Night” glistening synths warble beneath Grobler’s glassy vocals. The track swiftly picks up the pace with a shimmering disco-style chant and serves as a fall anthem for those still clinging onto summertime excitement. “When we were doing a lot of DJ sets, I was watching what people would respond to when they’re on the dancefloor. In the back of my mind, I wanted to make music that spoke that language,” shares Grobler. “Lyrically, ‘Gimme The Night’ is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the lifestyle of influencer culture, which we lived at different points. Being in a band, you’re flying all over the place. Everyone thinks it’s a totally glamorous life on social media. It’s glamorous sometimes, but most of the time, it’s not the jet-set life you imagine.”

WATCH + SHARE “GIMME THE NIGHT” MUSIC VIDEO

The “Gimme The Night” music video features Ireland Basinger Baldwin barricading herself in a local convenience store as she escapes from the relentless paparazzi. There, she meets the clerk, played by Jetta Juriansz, and the two drink and dance the night away together before the paparazzi join in on the fun.

Grobler goes into greater detail on the vision behind the music video by sharing this, “We love videos that have a poignant message wrapped up in something seemingly not so poignant. Here we have a parable of fame and how it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, with the role of the young starlet being played by our good friend, Ireland Basinger Baldwin, who, due to her celebrity status, is well accustomed to this song’s message. The video also has a cameo from our friend and frequent collaborator, Andrè Allen Anjos, aka RAC. Because if one synth-pop artist can’t make it to their video shoot, you should stick another one in there instead.”

Leading up to the release of Utopia, St. Lucia shared their singles, “Take Me Away,” “Hey Now,” and “Touch.” “Take Me Away” bops along on claps and a falsetto hum with uncontainable energy and a twist of trip-hop production. Its core message depicting how to deal with depression and mental health is enhanced by a colorful fusion of synth-pop, yacht rock, and electronica. With an emphasis on productivity and pop purity, the track was inspired by the chill-out music scenes from the late 90s and early 2000s, influenced by artists such as Bent, Zero 7, and a few Café Del Mar compilation records.

Driven by elegant arrangements and warm synths, the emotionally charged “Hey Now”transmits an uplifting reminder in the resounding chorus, “Hey now, well it only takes a second fall, but it only takes a minute to start over again.” Thematically, the song is about getting knocked down, but no matter the situation you must find a way to stand up again. “Hey Now” serves as an ode to never giving up despite all odds.

“Touch”glides out of the gate on buoyant keys and a head-nodding bass line as the refrain reaches for ecstatic yacht rock. The track was complemented with a mirthful, 80s pop culture style music video directed by Nicole Lipp that features LGBTQ+ dancer/actor, Liv Mai, along with Canyon Carballosa, an inspiring advocate and member for both the LGBTQ+ and autism communities.

Renowned for their energetic live shows, St. Lucia just kicked off their six-week tour on October 6^th, which marks their first full headline run in four years. Supporting on select dates will be Dutch musician and YouTube star Blanks, synth-rocker, Caroline Kingsbury, and electronic whiz Bayonne.

See below for the full set of dates. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit stlucianewyork.com/live.

Utopia LP is available on DSPs here: https://stlucia.ffm.to/utopia

“Gimme The Night” music video is available here: https://youtu.be/AthYIHSUNy4

Tour Dates:
10/7 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
10/8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts *
10/11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Café & Music Hall *
10/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club ^ (SOLD OUT)
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 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up # (SOLD OUT)
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 (SOLD OUT)
11/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

* with Caroline Kingsbury

^ with Blanks

# with Bayonne

About St. Lucia:

Led by South Africa-born, Jean-Philip Grobler and Germany-born, Patti Beranek, 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 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.”

Throughout 2020, they wrote and recorded what would become Utopia in Patti’s hometown of Konstanz, Germany and Upstate New York. Following the birth of their youngest son, Charlie, Jean-Philip’s self-imposed social media exile, and a return to “normalcy” in the world at large, they shared six tracks as Utopia I in April 2022. “Rocket On My Feet” eclipsed 1 million total streams as the project earned critical praise from Riff Magazine, Under The Radar, and more. Variance hailed it as “a wealth of electropop goodness in the middle of a world on fire.”

In its entirety, the forthcoming LP only expands this vision, hinging on the parity at the heart of the band’s signature style. Synths pulsate like strobe lights as euphoria rains down from a skyscraping singalong. The guitar strings shake and shudder akin to bodies on the dancefloor bathed in fluorescence. Freedom courses through every physical and emotional movement as you depart this dimension only to land on St. Lucia’s Utopia. The group’s fourth full-length album unlocks this plane via eloquent and elegant electro-pop projected in cinematic proportions like your favorite fantasy fever dream on the big screen. As the unadulterated and unfiltered vision of Jean-Philip Grobler and Patti Beranek, these 13 tracks engage escape in its purest form. Freedom courses through every physical and emotional movement as you depart this dimension, only to land on St. Lucia’s “utopia.” The group’s fourth full-length album unlocks this plane via eloquent and elegant electro-pop projected in cinematic proportions, like your favorite fantasy fever dream on the big screen. As the unadulterated and unfiltered vision of Jean-Philip Grobler and Patti Beranek, these 13 tracks engage escape in its purest form.