12 July 2026 – Luluc Question Modern Life On ‘Sweet Thief’

Melbourne-born folk duo <a href="/tags/luluc">Luluc</a> release their sixth album ‘Sweet Thief’, with Zoë Randell and Steve Hassett examining modernity’s polished surface and the manipulation, exploitation and existential unease hiding underneath it. That is a substantial subject for an understated folk record, but Luluc have always understood that quiet songs can carry enormous questions.

The album does not need to shout about society’s contradictions. It observes them carefully, allowing acoustic detail, patient arrangements and Randell’s distinctive voice to reveal the cracks. ‘Sweet Thief’ appears interested in the things modern life steals while presenting itself as convenient: attention, privacy, time and the ability to sit alone without immediately checking whether somebody has sent a picture of their lunch.

Yet the record’s tone is not simply despairing. There is tenderness in its attention to human behaviour and beauty in the way the duo create space around difficult ideas. The music feels deliberately unhurried, which becomes almost rebellious in an environment that measures engagement by the second. ‘Sweet Thief’ invites listeners to slow down long enough to notice what has been taken, what remains and whether the shiny surface was ever as convincing as advertised.