Ryan Lott, or Son Lux, is a classically trained artist who started playing the piano at age 6, then picked up the guitar, learned to play drums and took some jazz piano lessons.
While studying composition and piano at Indiana University, Lott first explored writing for dance choreography, something that he continued even after he moved to NYC in 2007. By then the urge to go solo was already too strong to be ignored. Ryan had been collecting sounds that he sampled and working with them and his own voice to create musical landscapes that would later turn into songs.
“I realized half-way through this record that I was actually making a record”, he says. “My aesthetic was to go with sounds that were not originally created to fulfill a particular function within a song. The result is a lot of unique and different ‘performances’ for different purposes that were essentially pulled together.”
Son Lux was eventually signed to Anticon and the result is the album At War with Walls and Mazes (2008, Anticon), his stunning debut. The songs, with no verses and no choruses, break the patterns of traditional contemporary music. They are part of a very coherent stylistic whole but at the same time all diferent. The mix of soulful electronica, sharp beats and hip-hop influences builds a sonic puzzle that Son Lux puts together and breaks apart with great skill.
Listen to Son Lux’s remix of My Brightest Diamond’s song “Inside a Boy” and also Son Lux’ track “where|sir” on the compilation U R MY DISCO//vol.2 and find out more about Son Lux on MySpace. You can purchase his music on 
1 comment
10 pings
eleKtroMess
February 18, 2010 at 2:58 pm (UTC 1)
Talk about talented… these tracks are gorgeous!
HALF COUSIN – IODINE (Indie/Lounge/Folk – UK) « umstrum || music
December 16, 2009 at 12:12 am (UTC 1)
[...] records, half cousin, Indie, uk, video by umstrum So what do you call a band like Tunng, or Son Lux, or what have you? Electro folk? Folktronica? This is the kind of distorted junkyard pop Half [...]
GLASS ANIMALS – GOLDEN ANTLERS (Trip Hop/Downtempo – « umstrum || music
January 11, 2010 at 7:11 pm (UTC 1)
[...] and leave you with a feeling half way between pleasure and pain.. Much like early Telefon Tel Aviv, Son Lux or L’altra, Glass Animals build their track around the dramatic tension between the [...]
RJD2 – THE COLOSSUS (Hip Hop/Soul – US) « umstrum || music
January 20, 2010 at 11:19 pm (UTC 1)
[...] SON LUX – AT WAR WITH WALLS AND MAZES (Electronica/Breakbeat – US) [...]
BEIRUT – THE FLYING CLUB CUP (Folk/Indie – US) « umstrum || music
January 28, 2010 at 1:34 am (UTC 1)
[...] beautiful track was remixed by Son Lux and the remix, just as beautiful, is what you can listen to just [...]
U R MY DISCO // vol.2 « umstrum || music
February 18, 2010 at 12:31 pm (UTC 1)
[...] – This Boy’s in Love 16. My Brightest Diamond – Inside a Boy (Son Lux Remix) 17. Son Lux – [...]
BEIRUT – THE FLYING CLUB CUP (Indie/Folk/Acoustic – US)
April 2, 2011 at 10:39 pm (UTC 1)
[...] Beirut – A Sunday Smile (Son Lux Remix) (more about Son Lux HERE) [...]
SON LUX – WE ARE RISING (Experimental/Electronica – US)
April 18, 2011 at 8:01 pm (UTC 1)
[...] Son Lux (a.k.a. Ryan Lott) first came to public knowledge in 2008, with his breathtaking debut, At War With Walls and Mazes, released on avant-guarde hip hop label anticon. This seemingly perfect record — a clever mix of sharp hip-hop beats, layered vocals and soulful string arrangements — demonstrated a level of musicianship and sensibility that left even the toughest of critic speechless. After this glorious release, Ryan Lott returned to his day job writing music for dance choreography and worked on a new project as Son Lux, the Weapons EP, released in February 2010. [...]
HALF COUSIN – IODINE (Indie/Lounge/Folk – UK)
April 30, 2011 at 6:40 pm (UTC 1)
[...] what do you call a band like Tunng, or Son Lux, or what have you? Electro folk? Folktronica? This is the kind of distorted junkyard pop Half [...]
GLASS ANIMALS – GOLDEN ANTLERS (Trip Hop/Downtempo – UK)
June 21, 2011 at 12:40 pm (UTC 1)
[...] and leave you with a feeling half way between pleasure and pain.. Much like early Telefon Tel Aviv, Son Lux or L’altra, Glass Animals build their track around the dramatic tension between the [...]
U R MY DISCO // vol.2
February 17, 2012 at 3:45 pm (UTC 1)
[...] – This Boy’s in Love 15. My Brightest Diamond – Inside a Boy (Son Lux Remix) 16. Son Lux – [...]