Lydia Luce – Mammoth
Lydia Luce Finds Peace On Her Stunning, Nature-Inspired New Album Mammoth
Nashville singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce releases her stunning new album Mammoth. Produced by longtime collaborator Jordan Lehning (Kacey Musgraves, Joy Oladokun, Caitlin Rose) and recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, Mammoth reflects the natural world and the stillness in it.
The new single, “Belly,” illustrates how Luce comes to trust herself over the course of the album, reassuring herself as she sings “We grow, so slow / We might not see it some days / Take rest, we get to start again / So many ways.”
Lydia Luce explains the origin of “Belly“: “This song was written when I was deep in the struggle with chronic pain. I had been lying to myself and those around me, because I was afraid that if I admitted I was in pain I would lose work as a session violist. I remember playing certain songs live on guitar and being so nervous to play bar chords because the pain was so intense.
Yet, I kept playing for years. It all came to a head when I was about to go on a tour opening and playing violin in the band I was opening for. I was in rehearsal and I couldn’t feel my fingers. This was new and terrifying. Still I didn’t say anything. I used KT tape and kept on going.
The bridge of this song is a coming to terms moment when I just accept the pain because the more I hide it the worse it gets. Once I started listening to my body and respecting my body’s boundaries, I started to heal. I have developed a connection to my body that I never had, and while I’m not grateful for the pain, I’m grateful for the outcome and the awareness.”
From the sweeping title track to the dreamy “Wisteria” and the tender lullaby “Florence,” Mammoth is bound by a common thread of self-love, hope and acceptance, along with a fervent belief in the serendipity of the last few years. These songs are equally inspired by the ambient compositions of Luce’s solo Lethe music project and the natural surroundings of the UK countryside, with sounds of blowing winds and morning birdsong woven into the instrumentation.
Recently, Magnet praised Luce’s moving duet with British singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh “Ephemeral,” calling it “the sound of Luce learning to trust herself.” Her stunning rendition of “Quiet” performed with Lockeland Strings (the Nashville-based string collective run by Luce and Lehning) was also hailed by FLOOD, who said it “captures the sense of awe in Luce’s vocal performance while leaving plenty of space for the thrumming string section to swell in between lyrics.”
Mammoth follows Luce’s 2023 LP Florida Girl and 2021 debut Dark River, which garnered acclaim from The Fader, Under The Radar, FLOOD and Paste, who said “Luce’s brand of spellbinding folk is made all the better by her virtuosity as a classical musician.” The boisterous elements of those releases are replaced with something more quietly contemplative on Mammoth. Here we see Luce metamorphosizing once more, from a triumphant journey of self-discovery to finding a sense of peace.
Mammoth Tracklist:
1. Mammoth
2. Belly
3. Deep End
4. Ephemeral (feat. Luke Sital-Singh)
5. Florence
6. Mama Love
7. Quiet
8. Wisteria
9. The Wharf
10. Making Amends
11. Walking Song (feat. Max Helgemo)
12. Signet
Photographer Credit: Ryan Usher
Connect with Lydia Luce:
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