Back in 2019, The Struts frontman Luke Spiller had written a pair of songs that he thought would work for a James Bond film. Instead, they paved the way for Spiller’s own origin story as a solo artist.
The tracks, called “Devil in Me” and “Angel Like You,” became the opening and closing songs on Spiller’s debut solo album, Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes and Wine, out now.
“Of course, I missed out on [the Bond film] and whatnot,” Spiller tells ABC Audio. “But, having said that, it became the nucleus of what was to become the [solo] project, especially sonically.”
Spiller found himself drawn to the elaborate sounds of pianos and strings, which scratched an itch he developed after recording four straight-ahead rock records with The Struts. If he was to continue down that path, he knew it would have to be a solo venture.
“I didn’t want to sort of, you know, approach everyone and say, ‘OK, we’re gonna do a piano-based album with ballads all the way through it with huge string sections,'” Spiller laughs. “It was definitely a direct result from four albums of very guitar-based music, singing in a certain way, delivering things in a certain way, and, of course, writing in a certain way.”
Lyrically, Love Will Probably Kill Me is devoted to Spiller’s own experiences with love and heartbreak, specifically related to his life since moving to Los Angeles, creating what he characterizes as a “slight concept album.”
“It’s an album that I feel personally is probably my most authentic and honest work to date,” Spiller says.
Spiller will be back rocking with The Struts on tour, playing festival dates in May before launching a North American headlining run in July.
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