Earlier this afternoon on WKNC Patrick Phelan from Durham based Luego dropped by to debut the band’s newest album, Ocho, which is scheduled to be released June 1st.  Patrick and I played several tracks off of the album and chatted about a variety of things related to the band and the album. Ocho is being released a mere eight months after the debut LP of Taped-Together Stories but the two seem hardly related.  Ocho relies much more heavily on background harmonies and a thicker and deeper sound that is stacked with layer upon layer of grooviness and cool.  The bluesy ruggedness and heartfelt emotion of Phelan’s voice is still present but the album seems to be much more of a family affair and holds a certain friendly attire about it.  Jeff Crawford produced the album at his own Arbor Ridge Studios.  Take a listen to this first sample of the songs anywhere:

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The album has an album release party May 29th at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill. The Tomahawks, who share several band members with Luego, will be playing first and afterwards a “soulful themed” dance party will commence.  Needless to say, this album will continue to be played on WKNC as often as possible from here on out.

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