Tony Lucca

Tony Lucca

URL: https://www.tonylucca.com/

Tony Lucca was born on the outskirts of Detroit on the heels of Motown’s heyday, raised within the loving confines of an enormous family of musicians; his mom was the 10th of 12 kids who all sang and played. Shortly after graduating high school, Lucca wound up in LA and embarked upon an independent recording career that would span over 20 years. Along the way he’s toured with artists as colossal as Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, *NSYNC and Marc Anthony.

He’s been busy for the last decade making a lot of music. He was cast by Justin Timberlake to play “the cool guy” in Timberlake’s directorial debut.

So why isn’t he a household name?

Maybe he simply hadn’t made the right record before. This time, Lucca believes he has. It’s his 8th full-length studio album which is his first self-titled release, and first entirely self-produced effort.

The CD wastes no time in getting right down to business on Old Girl, which is not about a girl at all, it’s about another word I mentioned before the title. By the time it’s over there really is no mystery to be had on this tricky opener. If that isn’t enough to get things underway, out of the clear blue sky comes the equally great My Confession, where more musically adventurous fun cannot be found. This is an out of sight track to say the least, absolutely killer track with a huge Americana vibe, containing strings galore. Then we once again have a twist that can’t be denied on Delilah, where the country factors start to drop off a little, replaced with more pop and folk influences. This is definitely one of the highlights on the disc, which is most of the time hard to pin-point. The rhythm is uncanny here, building up to an abrupt end that tops it off perfectly. If only it had sleeve art to match its creative qualities, which is the only point of any dissatisfaction. The influences to be found on this record are quite abundantly assorted, but most of it isn’t that easy to nail down, but you swear you’ve heard Imagination somewhere, as the track begs to use just that to try and find where it may be. For me it is TV shows of the 90s. Does this turn me off? No, it reminds me of shows actually liked. He blends a soulful sass along with a crooner vibe on this, what I find to be the albums strongest track and a jubilant performance by all. Cherry is another high point, with its exuberant arrangement and complimenting backing vocals, making it another favorite. The guitar just works so well on this number it’s one of the more rocking tracks on the disc. But this is followed by the epic piano crooning performance of North Star, with its super singer-songwriting prowess. Another high point here for sure, as it has that everything needed to grab radio. The hypnotic pace is what ultimately drives this, along with a gospel vibe holding it altogether. Notice how the piano drives it but not without some incendiary guitar flashes to keep it gritty. This is something quite awesome.

On Never Make It Out Alive he starts to remind of singers like Greg Kihn and others, oddly enough, because I somehow doubt he’s a chosen influence but I could be wrong. There are a lot of singers who could be mistaken for Kihn as well, so it could be anyone, but Lucca comes out original either way. Then it becomes slightly peculiar on Sweat It Out, where the soul comes on most strong of all, and continues with good natured attitude on Smoke ‘Em. And it all ends well with some more highlights in that of Paint A Picture and the lovely closing track, Sparrow, for an overall colossal self-titled record. Lucca has paid his dues and this is where he gets off.

Purchase Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tony-lucca/id937480111

Larry Toering

Score: 10/10