Luke Spiller releases video for 'Angel Like You', ft Taylor & Shane Hawkins + Kendall Rucks
- Rock Metal Machine
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Luke Spiller releases his debut solo album today, entitled Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes And Wine.
To celebrate he also releases the video for his brand new single ‘Angel Like You’, a soaring duet with Bond-style drama and poignant reflection. It’s a duet with the singer Kendall Rucks, on which Luke’s close friend Taylor Hawkins played drums – one of the very last recordings before his tragic death. In homage to his father, Taylor’s son Shane recreates the drum part in the video.
Despite its intimate nature, the album leans into Spiller’s signature flair for theatrics and grandeur, and he didn’t shy away from the over-the-top dramatics of his influences. “In terms of big sound and theatrics, those come naturally to me,” he says. The 10-track record takes a poetic and emotionally raw approach to storytelling, chronicling the good, bad, and everything in between from Spiller’s own life. It’s out now courtesy of Big Machine Rock.
In 2019 Luke Spiller found himself in a state of self-inquiry. For over a decade, he’d made a name with the formidable British rock band The Struts — enlisting his retro sonic inspirations, singular vocals, and anthemic songwriting to help boost the group to the top of the charts. But three albums and multiple world tours later, Spiller started to wonder what it would be like to shift in his own direction. The dramatic, avant-garde music he’d grown up with and the unbridled, large songs he wanted to write didn’t seem like a fit for his current project. “It’s been a long time in the making,” he says.
Produced by Jon Levine (Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, Drake) and Jason Falkner (Beck, St. Vincent, Air), the result is a sweeping cinematic soundscape that nods to James Bond scores and Queen-sized ambition. From the dramatic opener ‘Devil In Me’ to the West Coast-laced dreamscape of ‘She’s Just Like California’, the album reveals a deeply vulnerable, unapologetically bold version of Spiller.
“What tied everything together for this album was this journey I’d been on,” he explains. “In some ways, I was writing about a particular time in my life... to document the LA experience and all the love, beauty, and heartbreak it had to offer.”
Spiller channels the emotional honesty of artists like Lana Del Rey and Adele, embracing a no-rules creative space. Tracks like ‘I’m With Her (But I’m In Love With You)’ showcase lyrical minimalism with maximum emotional impact, while ‘Magic At Midnight In Mel’s Diner’ is a musical extravaganza fit for Broadway or the West End.
Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes and Wine is just the beginning for Spiller, who plans to continue his path of self-actualization and grand, score-worthy songs. “There is always room for different versions of ourselves,” he confirms, “and I think this project personifies that notion perfectly.”
Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes And Wine Track Listing
Devil In Me
If This Isn’t Love
The Ending is Always the Same
Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes And Wine
Magic at Midnight in Mel’s Diner
She’s Just Like California
I’m With Her (But I’m In Love With You)
Don’t Be Afraid to Love Me
The Sound Of Love
Angel Like You
“A clutch of heartfelt torch songs with sweeping, cinematic orchestration… All very theatrical but in a quite fabulous way”
– MOJO
“Sees him pivoting away from fizzily exuberant glam rock into something lusher, more orchestral, more romantic… an unlikely reinvention, but a terrific one”
– Classic Rock
“Orchestral grandiosity… almost all 10 sings could be Bond themes”
– Classic Pop
“Elegant and cinematic… it’s romantic rock’n’roll goes to classic Tinseltown”
– Kerrang
“Think young Scott Walker. Think James Bond theme by David Bowie”
– Daily Express
“Blissfully, luminously great”
– Daily Mirror
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