St. Lucia, “Fata Morgana: Dawn.”

Synth-pop band St. Lucia took an unusual timeline releasing its fifth album, Fata Morgana: Dawn. The material was constructed mostly prior to making its last album, 2022’s Utopia, but was temporarily shelved as the pandemic made many look at life a different way.

Vocalists Jean-Philip Grobler and Patti Beranek felt it was missing something. In the time that passed, the couple had their second child and moved their home base from New York to southern Germany (where Barenek’s family lives). Beyond that growth in human experience, the band also tapped strings players to flesh out the record’s sound.

Fata Morgana: Dawn (the name is Italian for a type of mirage at sea, seen right above the horizon) has a variety of callbacks and influence from psychedelia, classic Americana and folk. The material is lush and layered while relatable and accessible; it’s a fun pop record.

The ambitious opener, “Something’s In the Way,” serves as a dramatic intro, with Beranek’s dreamy vocals repeating a single line over a piano-laden instrumental that climbs and climbs before receding, like waves. The psychedelic sounds are ever-present with the reverb-laden drumming, extended dueling melodic guitar solo, crunchy synths and phase-shifting effects.

After a dreamy, slightly off-kilter transition instrumental (“What”), St. Lucia gets to the heart of the matter with “Pie in the Sky,” a delicious slice of anthemic alt-pop; Grobler soars on the infectious chorus. The vocal melodies feel more modern while the instrumentation and arrangement sounds like it could have come straight out of the ‘70s.

“Now we’re so high/ Can’t come down/ Living like a pie in the sky,” Grobler sings. The lyrics are easily relatable and instantly memorable.

“Falling Asleep” is rousing, keying in to disco. The groove feeds off of the synth strings (Grobler is a wizard of knobs and switches, making the band sound like Dua Lipa backed by the London Philharmonic) that add to the guitar melodies. The funky half-time breakdown in the bridge adds the final touch, making the track memorable.

The atmospheric “In Your Arms” takes the ‘70s sound and adds ‘80s energy to it. It’s fueled by the intricate jazzy bossa nova rhythm that provides the heartbeat. Pop duo Aly & AJ provide sultry vocals on the divine “Campari Lips & Soda,” which takes on a wall-of-sound production awash in spacey reverb. The multipart harmonies elevate the song to another level; these two bands just vibe together. Then,“Rolling Man” rollicks along as an acoustic-driven Americana tune before exploding into an upbeat “Proud-Mary”-esque jam. Grobler’s vocals are some of the best on the record on this absolute highlight track. The train references ground the song to a specific time and place. It’s all that but still a pop song.

A jazzy sax and four-on-the-floor hi-hat work ties the start of “In the Light” to “Rolling Man, while veering off into psychedelic territory. The album maintains a mostly upbeat energy from front to back, with the trippy “Going to Space” being one of the more mid-tempo outliers. Grobler, Beranek and company—the band includes bassist Ross Clark, drummer Dustin Kaufman, synth-man Nicky Paul—quickly return to their cinematic pop form for closer “Fear of Falling.”

Editor Roman Gokhman contributed to this story. Follow writer Mike DeWald at mikedewald.bsky.social.