The Luyas

The Luyas, an experimental Canadian indie rock group, craft arty and atmospheric pop. Emerging from Quebec in 2006, the ensemble revolves around lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jessie Stein while also including keyboardist and French horn player Pietro Amato, drummer Stefan Schneider, and organist Mathieu Charbonneau. They issued a self-released EP during 2008, then delivered the full-length Faker Death the following year. Signing afterward with Dead Oceans, the band put out Too Beautiful to Work in February 2011. Schneider departed in January 2012, with former Land of Talk drummer Mark Wheaton stepping in as replacement. Work on the third album, Animator, commenced soon after and reached Dead Oceans in fall 2012, its creation shaped profoundly by the loss of a close friend right at the start of sessions. Retaining Stein and Amato alongside both Wheaton and Schneider plus guitarist Michael Feuerstack, the group issued the largely improvised EP Says You in 2016. That release foreshadowed their next full-length after nearly five years, Human Voicing, which likewise drew from improvisation and was produced by Jace Lasek of Besnard Lakes.