Sulka ‘Bute’ Album Launch

Information

Sulka is the Glasgow based DIY songwriting/recording project of Lukas Clasen, whose style blends intimate vocals, lo-fi production aesthetics and dynamic mood changes. Having been a songwriter and guitarist in various bands during the 2010s, Lukas decided to experiment with his own solo recordings, taking after genre-blending alt pop artists such as Alex G, Sparklehorse and Spirit of the Beehive. There are hints of alt-folk, grunge and shoegaze influences heard across Sulka’s catalogue, all pulled into coherence through his characteristic voice and home production style.

In 2021 Sulka joined the Lost Map Records collective with his well received LP Take Care, gaining him a wider listenership and BBC radio play by the likes of Vic Galloway and Steve Lamacq. Snack magazine chose the lead single Fear It as one of their top Scottish singles of the year. This led to the project expanding to a four-piece live band and enlisting the help of SAY Award nominated producer Chris McCrory (Catholic Action, Walt Disco) on their follow-up record Distractions, released in 2023. The album was selected as ‘album of the month’ on BBC Gaelic Radio and the band toured its songs across the UK including sold out shows at the Cavendish Arms in London and The Rum Shack in Glasgow.

Sulka’s latest collection, Bute, is set for release in July 2026 through Lost Map and No Soap Records. Inspired by a mid-winter writing trip to the west coast island of the same name, the new record sees a return to the intimate solo production style of Lukas’s early work. He cites the influence of the island’s natural landscape and fading grandeur of its Victorian towns on the creation of the songs’ themes. Reflections on time and ageing and the power of nature are recurring concepts. Drawing on new skills learned through his work with McCrory, as well as the experience of mixing music for other artists in the years since Take Care, Lukas set about creating the album by himself. It retains the characteristic homemade elements of Sulka’s early albums while trying to match the more radio-ready audio quality of McCrory’s work on Distractions.