If it was up to Will Schube you’d all be dancing in the dark
Attention: Folks who dream of hanging out at LA piano bars doing coke until 4 AM but weren’t born or fortunate enough to be around at that time: Light in the Attic’s got your back. The best re-issue label in town has re-created many a landscape before, but their near-miraculous work of rescuing an absurdly obscure early 80s private press record by a dude named Lewis may be above and beyond the call of duty.
Lewis’ L’Amour is straight up wispy. If you’re not paying attention, you probably won’t hear it. I don’t think better background music has ever been produced. This isn’t an insult; every piano bar’s gotta have a dude tickling the ivory. Lewis is our man, if he’s real at all (all that’s known about the guy is pure conjecture — some even insist he’s otherworldly).
While “I Thought the World of You” is a slow burner (and that’s a generous characterization), the track does give a good idea of the album’s overall sound. It’s smooth music to play in the lounge you don’t have. Lewis’ voice hovers around a near whisper, and his piano mingles with spacey synths like that one couple getting it on at the middle school dance. Like all good re-issue stories, mystery is a part of the thrill of L’Amour (if you can call the almost painful movie star nonchalance of L’Amour thrilling). The record was recorded in ’83 and released by a label called R.A.W. Of course, there’s little to no information on the label these days. Some dude found a copy of the forgotten record in an Edmonton flea-market, and the rest is history. The story may not be as romantic or sexy as Lewis’ music, but L’Amour‘s near-whisper does a remarkable amount of talking without once raising its voice.
