Alex Maas

Everything changed for Alex Maas in 2018. That was the year his first child was born sending The Black Angels’ vocalist and multi-instrumentalist into a flurry of emotions he hadn’t felt before. Maas named his son Luca, which means “bringer of light,” and when it came time for Maas to title his debut solo album, he knew there was only one choice. Luca is an album informally dedicated to its creator’s son. It’s a powerful work of gentle psychedelia, and a notable departure from the heavy sound that Maas has become renowned for with The Black Angels. The band has served as one of rock’s purveyors of fuzz & intensity while also serving as ringleaders of a larger psych-rock scene, particularly through their Levitation music festival in Austin, TX. The project was a long time coming: Some of the songs date back almost a decade. But once Maas realized that this was something he needed to do, he started putting it together piece by piece over the course of a couple years, enlisting a list of collaborators to record at Spaceflight Studios in Austin: Luca was co-produced with Maas by Jack White’s front of house engineer Brett Orrison, and features contributions from Widespread Panic drummer Duane Trucks, The Sword bassist Bryan Ritchie, Jack White keys player Quincy McCrary, vocalist Jazz Mills, Eels drummer Derek Brown, Golden Dawn Arkestra drummer Robb Kidd, and The Black Angels’ own Christian Bland and Jake Garcia. Former Black Angels member Nate Ryan also plays on the album.