St. Lucia Radiates Positivity In New Single "Hey Now"

Led by husband-and-wife duo South Africa-born, Jean-Philip Grobler and Germany-born Patti Beranek, synth-pop aficionados St. Lucia arrives with their new single “Hey Now”. The track is accompanied by its vintage, VHS-style visualizer shot in various locations throughout NYC. Announced recently, the band’s long-awaited fourth studio album, 'Utopia', will be released on October 7th via Nettwerk.

Driven by elegant arrangements and warm synths, the emotionally charged “Hey Now” transmits an uplifting reminder in the resounding chorus, “Hey now, well it only takes a second fall, but it only takes a minute to start over again.” Thematically, the song is about getting knocked down, but no matter the situation you must find a way to stand up again. “Hey Now” serves as an ode to never giving up despite all odds. 

“Phew, what a journey ‘Hey Now’ has been on,” says Jean-Philip Grobler. “To me, it is the emotional core of this whole new era of St. Lucia. It’s the song I always play first when I sit down at a piano now. I’m so thankful that these magical chords came to mind one night in the early stages of the pandemic: it feels like somebody patting you on the back or giving you a hug to tell you everything will be ok.”
 

Of the accompanying music video, director Nicole Lipp shares: “Running around Jean’s old stomping grounds with a Rhodes and a Hi8 camcorder was so much fun. I loved hearing Jean’s stories and memories from all the places we trekked through. ‘Hey Now’ is a really personal and emotional song so it felt right to create a simple, organic, personal visual with to go with it! ”

Previously-released lead single “Touch” glides out of the gate on buoyant keys and a head-nodding bass line as the refrain reaches for ecstatic yacht rock. The track was complemented with a mirthful, 80's pop culture style music video directed by Nicole Lipp and featuring LGBTQ+ dancer/actor Liv Mai along with Canyon Carballosa, an inspiring advocate for both the LGBTQ+ and autistic communities. 

St. Lucia has stayed faithful to what they're best at: putting on incredible live shows everywhere from Coachella to Kansas City, producing shimmery synth-driven pop grooves, and having a good time doing what they love. Their debut album, 'When The Night', entered the Billboard Top 200 and hit #6 on Billboard's Heatseekers Album chart. The follow-up album, 'Matter', yielded the hit "Dancing On Glass", while the band collaborated with Jack Antonoff, RAC and others. Two years later, 'Hyperion' represented a creative and critical high watermark with praise from Billboard, who hailed the album as "buoyant," and PopMatters who raved, "it feels revelatory." 

Equal parts colourful disco, 70s funk, and 80s pop, the forthcoming 'Utopia' LP is a luminous palette of synths, pulsating with vibrant sonics that has come to characterise their genre-defying career. Inspired by everyone from David Bowie, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, to Parcels, St. Lucia enlisted the mixing talents of trusted collaborator Chris Zane [Passion Pit, The Walkmen] to help steer the sonically sparkling ship to greater heights.