US and Brazilian indie duo Kid Le Chat are all set to release their brand new EP, Luck Comes Too Late this week. Ahead of its official release on Wednesday, May 5th we bring you this exclusive first listen, and a track by track walk through from the band.
Luck Comes Too Late, the group’s first big release since 2018’s Lost Critters, wasn’t really a planned release according to the dup:“Like with a lot of our work we didn’t plan on releasing these four songs together when we started writing them. This was the child of an idea to be released before COVID put it on pause and then evolved into Luck Comes Too Late.”
It’s also proven to be the quintessential COVID recording experience, with the duo working together remotely from their seperate houses in Brooklyn and Rio De Janeiro, with home recording equipment becoming the norm. “It Was Never That Easy”, for example, was written and produced in the first few weeks of lockdown #1 back in April 2020. Whereas, “Alamo” and “Luck Comes Too Late”, were written and produced more recently in January.
Listening to the EP though, you would have no idea it was recorded remotely or separately. Although it’s a somewhat brief release, it’s a cohesive, bold and hugely enjoyable statement of intent from the duo. A joy to listen to, and to revisit again and again. Closer “Short Term Memory Loss” is a particular delight, with its familiar guitar riffs and 80’s pop rock vibes.
Hit play on Luck Comes Too Late below, and then read on as David Wilson and Leonardo Moretti take you through the EP track by track:
“Short Term Memory Loss”
We actually did quite a bit of this track with Abe Sieferth at Transmitter Park Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn back in March 2019 about a year before the pandemic. We had the overall arrangement, synths and guitar recorded and we ended up recording the rhythm section with Mike on bass and our friend Sam on drums at the studio. The vocals took a little longer because we were still working out the lyrics which came together later. When we were finally ready, Bryce Goggins mixed the track for us on this.
“Alamo”
This guy is rhythmically the outlier of the EP with a more laid-back vibe compared to the other three tracks. David came up with the song in NY and I recorded guitars and synths here in Rio. We were listening to a lot of Wings so it definitely influenced the arrangements, specifically the bouncy bass which David played on the track. Sean Cook mixed it for us in LA.
“It Was Never That Easy”
Arrangement wise this one is a good example of how we like to roll: many sections that occur once and progress into something else and don’t necessarily go back, which we hope comes across as going through a sonic journey rather than the sound of two guys with ADD. This one was recorded “transcontinentally” in NY / Rio with the help of dropbox and the internet. It took a while to get the sections to gel just the way we like them. When we got Sean Cook, a Brisbane native based in LA to mix the track, we managed to add yet another coast to the equation.
“Luck Comes Too Late”
If ever there was a tune we created that could be considered our white whale, it would be this guy, in fact, it was called Moby Dick for a while. This song started in 2017 with a guitar riff idea (which isn’t even in the song anymore) and we kept running into walls and having to start again. It took a pandemic to get us in the headspace to finally finish it. Sometimes you have to let things cook for a bit for them to finally feel ready and I guess this is well represented by the process that resulted in this tune. Sean mixed this one too.
Luck Comes Too Late by Kid Le Chat releases May 5th. You can keep up to date with the band via Facebook and Instagram.
