''Luster'' is the second studio album by Irish musician Maria Somerville. It was released on 25 April 2025 by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

in vinyl, CD and digital formats.

Background

Succeeding Somerville's 2019 debut project, ''All My People'', ''Luster'' consists of twelve songs with a total runtime of thirty-eight minutes and twenty seconds. The album incorporates elements of

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, and

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

, and centers on the theme of

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...

. Somerville wrote and recorded the album in

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

. "Projections" was released as the album's first single on 30 September 2024. It was followed by the release of the second single, "Garden", on 19 February 2025. The third single, "Spring", was released on 23 April 2025.

Reception

Paul Simpson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the album as "an accomplished, affecting work that finds strength and clarity through introspection and forgiveness." Shaad D'Souza of ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote in his review of ''Luster'', "these songs reveal themselves to be unusually swollen with texture and detail: harps twinkle like broken glass and baggy breakbeats reverberate widely, seemingly recorded through a bedroom wall." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' rated the album 8.5 out of ten and stated, "The Irish musician's gossamer dream pop is both mythic and real, a wild and ancient landscape in which her own figure is just barely perceptible." '' New Noise'' remarked, "''Lusters strength lies in its ability to explain the unexplainable; to emphasize a feeling only one's heart is able to comprehend—without words and without regret", and rated the album four out of five. ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' assigned the album a rating of eight out of ten, calling it "a terrific album from an artist of genuine substance." '' The Skinny'' gave ''Luster'' a rating of four stars out of five, noting that "On her 4AD debut, Maria Somerville redefines dreampop, goth, shoegaze and more, stitching colour into a tapestry of blacks, whites and greys."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Reflist 2025 albums 4AD albums Shoegaze albums by Irish artists Folk albums by Irish artists Dream pop albums by Irish artists