St. Lucia

St. Lucia emerged as the creative vehicle for Jean-Philip Grobler and Patti Beranek, delivering shimmering synth-driven pop steeped in 1980s textures. Their 2013 album When the Night wove Grobler’s youthful touchstones together with present-day tropical pop currents. Later projects such as 2018’s Hyperion pushed the sound toward grander, more anthemic territory by folding in gospel choirs and 1990s pop references. Further breadth arrived via 2019’s Acoustic, Vol.1 and a wave of remixes for kindred artists at the start of the 2020s. After relocating to Beranek’s native Germany, the duo unveiled Utopia in 2022.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Grobler entered the Drakensberg Boys Choir School at age ten, a prestigious mixed-race ensemble that performed for Nelson Mandela and toured globally. He began writing original music at twelve, drawing early guidance from Boyz II Men, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, and Sting.

Several years after departing the choir and South Africa, Grobler moved to England at nineteen to study music at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts for three years. During that time he met German-born Patti Beranek, who became both his collaborator and later his wife. Following Grobler’s graduation, the couple settled in New York City, where he worked as a jingle writer while he and Beranek launched St. Lucia to release their own songs. Influenced by 1980s and 1990s pop alongside artists they discovered at school—including Radiohead and Mew—the project signed to Neon Gold and issued a self-titled EP in 2012.

When the Night, their first full-length, appeared in 2013; led by the single “Elevate,” the album reached the Billboard 200 and peaked at number six on the Top Heatseekers Albums chart. For live performances Grobler and Beranek expanded the band to include Ross Clark, Nick Paul, and Dustin Kaufman.

While touring behind When the Night for nearly two years, the duo wrote the core of their second album, Matter. Produced in part by Chris Zane and featuring a songwriting collaboration with Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff, Matter arrived in 2016. The following year Grobler and Beranek welcomed their first child.

For 2018’s Hyperion they partnered with producer Rob Kirwan on an anthemic collection that featured the gospel-tinged “Paradise Is Waiting.” In 2019 both the remix set Remixed and the EP Acoustic, Vol.1 were released.

Their second child was born in 2020. The next year the pair left their longtime Brooklyn home for Konstanz, Germany. After signing with Nettwerk they released a remix of BEGINNERS’ single “Broke.” Utopia, their fourth album, followed in October 2022.