(MINNEAPOLIS, MN) -- Luke LeBlanc examines our current world on Fugue State, his fourth full-length studio album to be released October 28. Like all great singer-songwriters, LeBlanc crafts a batch of thoughtful tunes that explores the universal, then makes it personal. That’s because the Minneapolis-based LeBlanc takes an outwardly approach to search for inward solutions. That process renders Fugue State a more socially conscious effort than 2021’s Only Human, which centered on matters of the heart, particularly love, loss, and everything in between.
Fugue State has that signature LeBlanc sound – a warm, organic merging of rootsy folk and pop – as it aims its melodic arrow on the current divisiveness, culturally and politically, in the United States. In the space of 11 songs, LeBlanc articulates what’s broken and searches for ways to fix it, or at least gives us advice on how to cope. LeBlanc, 26, recorded Fugue State at Real Phonic Studio in Cleveland, Minnesota from November 2021 through July 2022. Produced and engineered by Erik Koskinen, who also plays electric guitar, bass, banjo, and keyboards, Fugue State features John Cleve Richardson on keyboards and backing vocals; Ryan Young of Trampled by Turtles on violin; Eric Heywood (Ray Lamontagne, Pretenders, Jayhawks,) on pedal steel; Casey Frensz on saxophone; and Erin Bekkers on drums.
At the core of Fugue State are potent gems such as “Come Clean” and “Take Your Mind Off It,” two songs that examine the volatile world we live in all the while providing refuge from it. A couple of walking songs, “Walking Days” and “When I Walk With You,” use moving as a metaphor for sanity from what sometimes feels like incurable chaos. To balance the dark tone of the record, LeBlanc provides a few upbeat nuggets to pull us through – from “Still” to “Slide on Over” and “Now.”
“Fugue State, lyrically and musically, sets out to take a step back before looking for hope or solutions,” says LeBlanc. “Instead, the album offers an artistic outlet to help assess what it is we’re feeling in this 'fugue state' – often defined as a temporary defense against extreme stress, where an individual loses awareness of their identity and where they are. We’re experiencing this as a society. It’s an album that focuses on processing and understanding our collective feelings of unease and brokenness. That’s a necessary step before we can accept and move forward.”
LeBlanc continues to prove his creative worth, cementing his reputation as a fully formed artist. Born and raised in Minneapolis’ Northside, LeBlanc taught himself to play guitar when he was 11 years old. Before long he was writing songs. A mere two years later, when LeBlanc was 13, he was the youngest talent to win the Zimmy’s (named after Robert Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan), a national singer-songwriter competition held in Hibbing, Minnesota. Since then, LeBlanc has shared the stage with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Phil Solem of the Rembrandts, Charlie Parr, Pert Near Sandstone, Erik Koskinen, and Joey Molland of Badfinger, among others.
Fugue State is an auspicious follow-up to an impressive album, 2021’s Only Human. These two snapshots of LeBlanc’s artistic evolution speak volumes. Both albums springboard from the promise of his first two full length efforts – 2010’s First Rail and 2013’s New Orleans Bound, both released under his then stage name Little Diamonds – and his 2018 EP, Time on My Hands. The one-two punch of Only Human and Fugue State point to an exceedingly bright future for this burgeoning singer-songwriter.
“I hope the album shows a growth in my willingness and ability to try new things,” says LeBlanc. “I’m experimenting with new instrumentation such as pedal steel and saxophone, new song structures, and new rhythmic timing. I’m also in a place in my life and career where I can bring a full band to my shows. I’m ready to expand my musical reach locally and regionally and having all those pieces is going to help with that. I’m incredibly grateful for the cast of musicians who contributed to Fugue State, as well as Koskinen’s distinctive work in the producer chair.”
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