The London-based Lucky Soul were formed in 2005 when guitarist Andrew Laidlaw moved from Scotland and met up with drummer Nathaniel L. Perkins. They placed an ad for a singer, saw over 300 people, and only Ali Howard impressed them. She joined the girl group and classic soul-influenced band, which was rounded out by bassist Toby Fogell and guitarist Ivor Sims. A concert alongside the Pipettes marked Lucky Soul's debut performance, and their debut single, "My Brittle Heart/Give Me Love," became a quick hit with British music critics in March of 2006. Its follow-up, "Lips Are Unhappy," arrived in June 2006 on the band's own Ruffa Lane label. It was followed by their first EP, Ain't Never Been Cool, in early 2007. They went into the studio with producer George Shilling to work on their debut album, adding strings and horns to the mix for some Stax and Motown-inspired flavoring. The Great Unwanted was issued in early 2007 on Ruffa Lane and helped expand their following thanks to widespread critical praise and radio airplay.nnTheir second album proved to be a challenge to create and finish. After Laidlaw rebuffed Tony Visconti's offers to help produce, he took total control of the sessions. Finding himself homeless, he spent days working on the album and nights sleeping in the studio, while immersing himself in the process 24-7. After months of painstaking work, the results were sent to Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey) for mixing. The resulting album, A Coming of Age, was co-released by Ruffa Lane and Elefant in 2013 and featured a slighter darker lyrical outlook with a sound drawn from a wider range of sources than the debut. After touring to promote the record, the band went on hiatus to focus on family commitments as Howard and Laidlaw had a child together. While Laidlaw worked continually on new songs, it took a few years for the band to start playing together again. When they did, it was with the addition of keyboardist/vocalist Art Terry. Inspired by the social unrest in the U.K. during the first half of the 2010s and the disco sound of the late '70s, the band's next record was a stylistic change of pace. Produced again by Laidlaw, Hard Lines was released by Crystal Paris Records in mid-2017. ~ MacKenzie Wilson & Tim Sendra