Naarm-based singer-songwriter Dean Luke channels his unique indie folk style through a fresh new exploration of losing love and religious faith, in his latest song Love Again.
The fourth release from the multi-talented musician – and something of a companion piece to another musical reflection of love and heartache, his earlier dream pop single Love Can Be So Cruel – the new song explores losing love, and the feeling it’ll take a miracle to find it again.
Described by Dean as an anthem for those who’ve had a falling out with love, as well as a falling out with God, Love Again explores the act of calling out to a higher power during times of heartbreak and helplessness. It also touches on Dean’s painful and disappointing past with religion, as a demonstration of Dean’s continual development as an artist. The new song relies upon deeply personal, painful sources of inspiration to fuel his craft.
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While Dean admits he does not have a religious background himself, he does explain he has had experience with religion. It was something which, “for better or worse,” Dean says, “sort of just appeared in my life” following the separation of his parents when he was young.
During this time, Dean’s father became a devoted member of a cult. “Suddenly, whenever I’d visit my dad, religion was ever-present. My dad was abusive and he used his religious views to justify his abuse.”
It’s these experiences that introduced Dean first-hand to religious hypocrisy, intolerance and abuse, causing him to scrutinise religious faith and organisations at a young age.
“The song is about losing love and the feelings of helplessness associated with it. Regardless of one’s religious or spiritual inclinations, it’s common to feel the desire to cry out for help to any higher power that will listen during those times. In a way, beseeching the heavens is the ultimate form of helplessness.”
He elaborates, “But what if the experiences you’ve had have led you to doubt the existence of God and question whether religion is a force for good in the world? That’s what made me realise I could play with my own past with this song, and the idea of reluctantly calling on God as some sort of last resort.”
“Everyone’s going to interpret the song differently. But I don’t think anyone would really hear it and think that it’s a declaration of faith, by any means, but it’s kind of ambiguous. It doesn’t let people know whether, you know, I have a good view or a bad view of religion. The song is more about calling out to God in times of hopelessness.”
“But I think it’s pretty obvious in the lyrics, it’s not a particularly positive portrait of religion. It sort of shows I’ve had some pretty unpleasant experiences with it before…”
When asked, Dean admits that the artists who influenced Love Again musically are folk and alt-country songwriters like Jeff Tweedy, Neil Young, and Lucinda Williams.
“People hear the harmonica and immediately say Neil Young, which is totally valid. But, musically, this song is a love letter to Lucinda Williams. It’s a shameless homage to her song Fruits of My Labour; it even follows a similar chord progression.”
“A while ago,” he adds, “I went through a pretty tough year and that song was like a life raft to me. Every time I’d hear it, I’d sort of just float away to somewhere better. I didn’t share my Spotify Wrapped that year because it showed I’d listened to it an obsessive amount of times.”
Continuing to grow and mature as an artist, Dean’s new release represents a brave approach to facing trauma through music, and the redemptive capacity of art in all mediums.
It marks a new step forward in the up-and-comer’s promising profile as a musician, and cements him as a voice to listen out for. Listen to Dean Luke’s new song Love Again here.
