“LUANNE” - Out Feb 21, 2023

“Luanne” is a rollicking love song with a world-be-damned attitude that celebrates the lover as a powerful and sexy force of nature (“Shape shifter / Fate twister / There’s no one swifter / Than my truth sifter / No one gets me off like you”).  The giddy momentum of the song is contagious with a boogie piano beat, the word explosion of the chorus, and the one-upmanship of the dueling baritone sax and electric guitar solos. As the first single off their power-packed album You Must Change Your Life (out May 5 on Nine Mile Records), “Luanne” crackles with a sonic joie de vivre – a splendor of ELO-esque fiddle and synthesizer fills, a panting counter-melody through a lo-fi telephone mic, and saxophones pitch-shifted several octaves up into a helium state of excitement.  

As David Wax notes, “When these words tumble out of me, I’m channeling a younger version of myself back when Suz and I first fell in love while touring the country in a borrowed mini-van, taking on the world one city at a time.  Friends and family thought we were crazy to turn our backs on our academic pedigrees and potential 401(k)s. ‘What’s your Plan B?’ was a common question, and the naysaying carried over into folks not believing our relationship would last — that it was dependent on the band and our early success.” 

They weren’t wrong to see the fragility and tension in a partnership built around a wild dream.

As Suz Slezak shares, “When we’d have a rough, soul-crushing night playing in a rowdy bar or to an empty room, or a late night drive past the point of exhaustion, David always assured me that we could leave it all behind — that our love was what mattered most, and everything else could just fall by the wayside.”

Sixteen years later, the partnership between Wax and Slezak is still at the heart of this band. “Luanne” is here to silence the doubters – assuring everyone in its wake that there’s nothing to doubt and much to celebrate. It turns out there is no Plan B for these two dreamers, and the world is luckier for it.

writing / publishing credits: 2023 David Wax, Great Unawakening Music (BMI)

ISRC for “Luanne”: USF2M2201027