September 11th is a day that carries a lot of weight. Students are coming back into Leeds, the hot days are starting to relent and we find ourselves in the bedroom of the Undead Cat. Lucas is a person we’ve had on before, with their melancholic and ground shaking version of Caroline Polachek’s ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’ we recorded at their old flat, just a couple of floors down from our beloved Content Nausea. After that session, Lucas gave me a copy of the first Undead Cat album and after spinning it for the first time, I knew I had to have them back in a more official way.

The morning was just a little slow, as we’d just had the Mince Wax DJ session, where Matthew and Clem kept us Boogying until our mid twenties legs told us to go to bed (btw if you get to do a Wax DJ session, it's basically a free beer cheat). We started proceedings by mic’ing up Lucas much like how we did in the cover. Nice At2020 mic on acoustic guitar and the BM88 on vocals. We decided to do a separate take then with both the acoustic and vocals recorded separately, which I think really benefits from the separation and ability to mix the two differing parts. What starts as an acoustic song with Lucas’s dynamic performance is then built on with layers of lush and ethereal instrumentation.

We started with their mother’s Lyre, a handheld harp you’d associate with a cherub - such resonant and blissful picking. Some of the notes were so quiet and peaceful, even the AT2020 struggled to pick it up. Then we added the keys, grand piano chords soaked in shimmer and verb. The digital quality and random delay patterns really put this piece into a mixed media realm that feels so indicative of Lucas’s other releases. Then for some improvised vocal runs to interact with the flow of the vocals and keys - so emotive too, they really put their soul into their music. You can tell this by their reaction listening back to the song, brought almost to tears.

We chatted as the final sample was recorded to the 4-track, flowing water and more ambient moments scattered across the loop. Lucas is such a powerful writer, you can feel how poignant their music is and how much from personal experience they take. The world is a scary place, especially when you’re coming to live in a country half the world away. We’ve spoken a bit about acceptance and what it’s like in Malaysia and how they’ve found much more of a community here in Leeds. This world is such a big place and there should be more than just pockets of it that will accept you for who you are. Definitely have a listen to The Undead Cat’s new album ‘Home in a Foreign Land’, such a big album, a real masterclass in soundscapes and songwriting.

For fans of: Alif Hilal, Ana Roxanne and James K.