Luna is one of those bands with a name that’s perfect for their music. Some of their best songs are thematically-linked, but their music sounds positively lunar too, pushing the Velvet Underground’s narcotized rock into cosmic territory. The band broke up in 2005 (before reuniting last year), and that sound has only diversified since. Guitarist Dean Wareham and bassist Britta Phillips experimented with electronic textures as Dean & Britta, and now Phillips steps into the solo spotlight with her debut album, Luck Or Magic.
On “Daydream,” Phillips uses her past as a jumping-off point, sailing through a cloudy arrangement, but she also goes further. While Luna and Dean & Britta hinted at orchestral grandeur, Phillips uses an actual orchestra to wrap her wounded voice in atmosphere. The song sounds like some alternate-universe Bond theme: tense, instead of swashbuckling.
Luck Or Magic is out now via Double Feature Records. Luna plays tonight at the Mohawk with an opening set by Britta Phillips. She also plays a free in-store set tomorrow at Waterloo Records at 5 p.m.
–Art Levy
