Lucienne Lights the Way on ‘The Same Death’

Lucienne Isn’t Dimming Her Light on Soulful New Single ‘The Same Death’

With just two tracks to her name, Lucienne already feels like a missing piece in the lineage of UK-steeped soul-pop — that space carved out by the likes of Amy, Adele, and Duffy, where vintage textures meet confessional weight. Her latest single, Lucienne’s ‘The Same Death’, taps into that same emotional current, layering breezy R&B influences with gospel warmth and existential reckoning — all while somehow sounding euphoric, danceable, and full of effortless surrender.

There’s a lived-in quality to her writing — nothing polished for polish’s sake, nothing performed to please. Just clarity, care, and the kind of voice that doesn’t need to shout to be heard. We caught up with Lucienne to talk shame, surrender, creative rebirth — and how a song written in a kitchen during a bad shift became her boldest step forward yet.

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Lucienne – ‘The Same Death’: Full Interview

For those just meeting you — who are you, what do you do, and from what ilk of music do you belong?

I write, sing and perform music currently in Eora/Sydney on Gadigal land - from stripped back raw acoustic ballads to danceable soul, pop, rock and whatever else flows out of the big, sacred, cosmic pool of song I so love to swim in. I think people who resonate with Adele, Florence and the Machine and London Grammar will vibe with my music

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Your name, Lucienne, means light — and you’ve described yourself as a light bearer. What does that idea mean to you as a songwriter and performer? 

My mum named me Lucie first, but then she decided that if I was going to be prime minister one day I would need something bigger so she went with ‘Lucienne’. In a lot of ways I think a name can be a self fulfilling prophecy and while I'm fairly certain the political ship has sailed for me, I've always felt a great pull to inspire people to be the biggest version of themselves.The act of bearing that name for me is protecting the bigness of the self, carrying the weight of the light (Just like Mama told me to) and not cutting myself down. In Australia especially we love to do that, cut ourselves and each other down to size. I want my music to inspire people to keep carrying the weight of their own light.

You’ve spoken about creative paralysis, perfectionism, and breaking free from that. What finally gave you permission to start releasing music?

Turns out releasing music can be hugely daunting! I've always imagined that in order to do so everything would have to be perfect, I'd have lots of support and money and at the very least know what the hell I was doing. I found out that the only way to know what the hell you’re doing in music is to actually do it. Life’s too short to not share your art, it gets all hot and bothered and starts to burn you up from the inside. I made a promise to myself not to create anything else until i’d released this song - and there’s no one grumpier than a creative not creating so I used that frustration as fuel to get it out.

Your debut ‘Already Blue’ felt like a slow exhale — raw and restrained. ‘The Same Death’ feels like a joyful release. What changed between the two?

At a certain point in creativity you have to have to find the courage to let go, and releasing 'Already Blue' was exactly that for me - a deep exhale. It was a demo never intended to be heard by anyone, a purely vulnerable recording. All of a sudden it felt like the perfect way to set myself free was to release it. 'Already Blue' was a gift to myself, 'The Same Death' is for everyone, and the joy of it was only something I was able to fully grasp through releasing my first track.

There’s a real lineage of UK voices who’ve wrapped soul, pop, and gospel into something timeless — do you see yourself as part of that tradition?

Absolutely - I’ve been hugely inspired by Amy Winehouse, Adele, Dusty Springfield, Duffy and the Stones. Music that you can’t help but want to dance to and at the same time acknowledges your pain, it gives your heart an emotional release that I find more healing than anything. 

It really does burst with energy and warmth, but the title catches you off guard. Can you unpack that tension between joy and existential weight?

The foundations of this song are in acknowledging the underlying darkness in the moment, and after shining a light on it, it’s no longer something to fear. I think death is a really important thing to unpack in order to open ourselves up to life. Releasing this song on the Winter Solstice is a reflection of that - this existential death is something to celebrate because it's the only way to make way for new growth.

Tell us how ‘The Same Death’ came to life — from first spark to final take. Any interesting moments from the writing or recording that stuck with you?

It struck me like lightning in the kitchen at a job I was hating one day. It was already all there I just had to comb it out of my head. We recorded it at music farm studios in the Northern Rivers on this incredible bohemian property that had orchards, gardens, even a UFO. All of us stayed in this great house there that some super eclectic anatomists had lived in and decked out with crazy science stuff. We even found a jar of unidentifiable testicles above one of the beds. 

Sonically, it’s rich with retro textures but still feels fresh. What kinds of sounds or influences were you leaning into?

Pastor T.L Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir was for sure a big influence sonically. The smoothness of the instrumentals in some of those tracks is like honey, and the richness of the choir vocals makes you feel like you're being pulled up into the sky and nothing can touch you. Songs like ‘Like a ship’ and ‘Father I stretch my hands’... oh man. It’s so powerful and timeless. George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic) is another huge influence of mine for this track. He invited me up on stage when I was 17 because I was dancing like a maniac in the front row. I cried so hard in that concert and smiled until my cheeks hurt. I hope he hears this song one day and that it makes people feel like I did hearing those guys live.

Who did you collaborate with on the track, and what sort of atmosphere were you chasing in the studio?

I was totally blessed to have ARIA-nominated producer Ryan Miller lead the way on this track, Grant Gerathy on drums, Pete Covington on guitar and Luke Watson on bass. We had an absolute blast recording this in the studio on a desk made in the 60’s, which really gave the audio that vintage feel. It was just joyous, we all got in and did the backing vocals and claps - I think you can really feel the joy of that whole weekend in the track.

As someone who came to releasing music a little later than most, how does it feel now to be in it — sharing, releasing, being heard?

I’ve been busy! - I've been a cheesemaker, a tractor driver, a chef, a tour guide, rich, homeless, lost in the desert, lost at sea and have had my heart broken in ways I never imagined possible. I stuck it all back together again in a way I'm really proud of. I have lots of stories, and they didn't come easy - but I'm ready to share them now. I had my guitar with me the whole time. It feels surreal, and like I'm finally at the destination that all of those crazy journeys were preparing me for. 

What do you hope people take from ‘The Same Death’ — in their heart, their body, their spirit?

There's so much love woven into this song - and I want to hit people over the head with it. It’s a call to arms to everyone to fight for the worth of their true selves. Life’s a pain in the ass and so is getting yourself out of a rough place, but it’s always worth it.

Do you collect records yourself? If so, what’s the crown jewel in your collection?

I do! My collection is super precious to me, and that's probably the toughest question here. RL Burnside’s ‘Come in’ is hanging on for dear life, but I have actually gone through three copies of Jeff Buckley’s Grace by playing it to death. It’s a perfect album. I hope that's an indication of how much I love these two and not how badly I take care of my records.

And if ‘The Same Death’ were to be pressed on vinyl — what would the sleeve look like, and what colour wax are we talking?

Oooh, that’s an exciting one. I’d love to have a pressing on an X-Ray sheet like they did with those banned records in the cold war. I have a really baddass x-ray of my jaw that I'd love to use for a one off pressing. For the rest, maybe that can make an appearance on the sleeve and we could have some beautiful pearly white wax to look like the snow in the background of the cover.

What’s next for you, Lucienne? Where does the light lead now?

Time will tell! I’ve got lots of great shows planned for the rest of the year with my band, and lots of new songs jumping at the gates to be released.