Sulka – stream & share ‘She Cares’ now, debut album released Jan 29
LOST MAP RECORDS PRESENTS:
SULKA
TAKE CARE
DEBUT ALBUM – JANUARY 29, 2021
STREAM & SHARE ‘SHE CARES’ NOW: li.sten.to/Sulka-SheCares
PRE-ORDER: lostmap.com/products/sulka-take-care
Sulka is the lo-fi melodic scuzz-rock songwriting and recording project of Glasgow-based Lukas Clasen. His debut album for Lost Map, Take Care, will be released on January 29, 2021 via digital services and in an initial run of just 200 hand-stamped CD-Rs in hand-assembled packaging, each with a printed A5 zine containing lyrics and illustrations by Sulka. Additionally, 30 cassette copies will be released in collaboration with Gold Mold Records.
Take Care is preceded by the instantly addictive singles ‘She Cares’, which will be on digital services from December 9, and ‘Fear It’, which has received support from BBC Radio 6 Music’s Tom Robinson and BBC Radio Scotland’s Roddy Hart and Vic Galloway (“exciting … shades of Grandaddy and Elliott Smith”).
Dedicated to the DIY ethos and aesthetic, Sulka self-produces, engineers and plays all of the instruments on his home-made recordings – “I love music that comes from non-studio environments,” he says, “stuff where you can hear the imperfections and limitations”. He has put out a steady stream of albums and EPs since 2017 via various local cassette labels including Gold Mold, Death Collective, Common and Negative Hope. Having cut his teeth as a part of collaborative project Polarnecks, Lukas gravitated towards working solo out of, as he puts it, “a desire to make music that was more stripped back, dynamic and experimental”.
His songwriting draws inspiration from genre-mashing Bandcamp hero Alex G and figures of the late 90s and early 00s alternative scenes, from Elliott Smith informed acoustic compositions to energetic indie-rock tracks reminiscent of The Cribs and adventures in sound collage in the vein of Badly Drawn Boy.
Performing live sometimes solo and sometimes with band, Sulka has opened for like-minded artists including PAWS, Sorry, Current Joys and Jeffrey Lewis & the Voltage.
“I wrote Take Care during the summer of 2019 during a bit of a transitionary period in my life,” Lukas explains. “I was newly single after a very long stint of relationships, moving flat as well, starting a record label, going out and drinking a lot – quite a busy, chaotic time. This is what a lot of the lyrics are about I think – coming to terms with being single, feeling a bit lonely and reckless. I knew I wanted this album to be a step up for me, so I was very deliberate about the whole process. I mapped the whole thing out before I started to record, decided on the song order, wrote all my lyrics and made to do lists to keep me on track. It feels really nice to be here a year later, having followed through on my plan, and for it to be coming out on such a cool label.”
Lost Map Records boss Johnny Lynch says: “Lukas sent me his music over lockdown, having heard a release we did earlier in the year by Good Dog. I was really taken by the strength of his songwriting, and the fact that the sound of his recordings were so fully realised. Although he performs with a live band, Lukas recorded all the instruments on this record himself, and that DIY spirit is something I’m always drawn to.
‘Fear It’ was the very first track I heard, and it’s a perfect introduction to his world – super-melodic, and with a propulsive energy that pulls the listener in. I’m really excited for folks to hear the album.”
sulka.bandcamp.com / instagram.com/_sulka / facebook.com/sulkaglasgow