Jessie Stein, formerly active in SS Cardiacs, is also a member of Miracle Fortress, and is the sister of By Divine Right's José Miguel Contreras. Amato and Schneider are both members of Bell Orchestre, Amato also plays in Torngat and was formerly a horn player for Arcade Fire.
The band played at the Pop Montreal festival in 2008 and the M for Montreal Festival in 2009.
The band uses an uncommon set of instruments featuring guitars, a French horn, piles of keyboards, drums and percussion. Singer/guitarist Jessie Stein expands the band’s musical vocabulary when she plays the Moodswinger, a 12-string electric zither designed by the Dutch experimental luthier Yuri Landman. The band became a four piece band with the addition of Mathieu Charbonneau in their line-up.
The Luyas were profiled by McSweeneys in the spring of 2010. In the same year the band signed to Dead Oceans for a release of their second album. Working with engineer Jeff McMurrich (Tindersticks, Constantines), The Luyas have also teamed up with friend and colleague Owen Pallett, who is lending his arranging skills and violin playing to a number of tracks.
The Luyas released their second album Too Beautiful to Work on Dead Oceans in February 2011. The Canadian release of the record was also in February 2011 via a new imprint called Idée Fixe Records.
Dumb Blood
The Luyas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ramble on, I know I'm fine, I know your gone, you were never mine.
You kissed my cold neck and said you hurt everyone that you met
And I lose it all, ok that's fine, but know these things have their design.
So if you go to escape me, you play with fire.
I'm all mixed up, my heart dumb blood.
To give is that enough?
Give the heart, the heart you said you wanted, and you want it back.
To hell, to hell, to hell with you we're going to do what I want to.
I'm all mixed up, my heart dumb blood.
To give is that enough?
Storm in a teacup
The Luyas's song Dumb Blood presents a paradoxical scenario where the singer acknowledges the end of a relationship whilst simultaneously clinging onto the memories and feelings associated with it. The opening lines "I know I can exist without the feeling of you in my chest" suggest that the singer recognizes that their dependency on their former partner is not necessarily healthy, but then immediately contradicts this statement by declaring their love for the departed with the line "I ramble on, I know I'm fine, I know you're gone, you were never mine." The singer then recalls a moment of intimacy, where their partner kissed their cold neck and revealed a tendency to hurt everyone they come in contact with. Despite this, the singer asserts that "these things have their design," possibly suggesting a sense of fatalism regarding their relationship.
The chorus presents the line "I'm all mixed up, my heart dumb blood," which may suggest that the singer is struggling to come to terms with their emotions as they grapple with the knowledge that their relationship is over. Furthermore, the lyric "To give is that enough?" may indicate that the singer was attempting to be a giving partner in the relationship, but now feels that their efforts may have been fruitless. The following line "Storm in a teacup" suggests that the entire relationship may have been a small and trivial affair, on the surface, but to the singer, it was much more significant than that. The final line "Give the heart, the heart you said you wanted, and you want it back," may be interpreted as the singer demanding their partner to return the love that they were gifted during the relationship, regardless of the fact that it has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
I know I can exist without the feeling of you in my chest
I acknowledge that I can survive without being emotionally attached to you
I ramble on, I know I'm fine, I know your gone, you were never mine.
I try to convince myself that I am doing well, even though I understand that you were never truly mine and have left me
You kissed my cold neck and said you hurt everyone that you met
You, through physical touch, confessed that you are a harmful individual to everyone you encounter
And I lose it all, ok that's fine, but know these things have their design.
Although I am losing everything as a result of your actions, I come to terms with it because the situation follows a certain pattern or plan
So if you go to escape me, you play with fire.
If you attempt to break free from my grasp, you are engaging in a dangerous game that may result in negative consequences
I'm all mixed up, my heart dumb blood.
I am experiencing emotional turmoil which is affecting my thinking and decision-making
To give is that enough?
Is the act of giving oneself in a relationship sufficient to satisfy the partner's desires and needs?
Storm in a teacup.
A small situation that is blown out of proportion, creating unnecessary chaos
Give the heart, the heart you said you wanted, and you want it back.
You asked for my wholehearted commitment, and now you desire to abandon it
To hell, to hell, to hell with you we're going to do what I want to.
I refuse to submit to your wishes any longer and will now act according to my own desires
Contributed by Matthew T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.