BOTW Vol 15: St. Lucia

Pop music is a beleaguered genre. The list of atrocities and tragedies that it has suffered in the past decade are both numerous and numbing. Boy bands, Posh Spice, Whitney Huston’s death, Britney Spears’ shaved head, American Idol, and Glee are just a few of the indignities perpetuated against this all-encompassing genre. But none of these things has managed to dim its hold on our hearts or our legs.

Sometimes a band comes along and makes you want to dance again. Our Band of the Week, St. Lucia, is just such a band. Blending the dreamy synth sounds of europop with the fierce thrumming rhythms of South Africa, St. Lucia is lush take on electropop. But more than that, this is a band who understands what pop is all about: tugging your emotions and making you want to sing a long.

St. Lucia is really, mostly just Jean-Phillip Grobler, current resident of Brooklyn and South African ex-pat. And while his musically eclectic childhood and many travels are sonically visible in St. Luica’s sounds, the songs are full of the quiet, intimate moments that make up the everyday. Take “Paper Heart” which starts out like a heartbeat. It’s the kind of love song you play on a Sunday morning. It’s the kind of pop song you want on the soundtrack to your own life.

9 Questions with Jean-Philip Grobler of St. Lucia

BEACON: First concert you attended?

Jean-Phillip: I think it was a concert by two South African bands who were big when I was a teenager, who were Amersham and Just Jinger.

BEACON: All time favorite album?

Jean-Phillip: Radioheads OK Computer

BEACON: Favorite musician?

Jean-Phillip: Vangelis

BEACON: Favorite restaurant?

Jean-Phillip: La Superior in Williamsburg, NY

BEACON: All time favorite movie?

Jean-Phillip: Jurassic Park

BEACON: Vinyl or MP3?

Jean-Phillip: I like the idea of vinyl, and the way it sounds, but I listen to MP3′s WAY more than Vinyls, and I don’t think they sound as bad as people say, so I’d have to say MP3′s.

BEACON: Dylan or The Beatles?

Jean-Phillip: The Beatles

BEACON: Stevie Wonder or Bob Marley?

Jean-Phillip: Bob Marley, but that might just be because I’m going through a Bob phase right now