Cor de Lux’s Tim Lusk and Dawn Moraga on Year Of The Horse
Transmission 419: Interview with Cor de Lux
Cor de Lux release their debut for Ipecac Recordings, Year Of The Horse, on September 18. Formed and based in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, away from any indie-rock scene, the band pairs Tim Lusk and Dawn Moraga’s vocals over intertwined guitars across nine songs produced by J. Robbins, moving between post-hardcore urgency, shoegaze tones and guitar catharsis that lands harder than either label suggests.
Artist: Cor de Lux
Release Date: 2026-09-18
Genres: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Shoegaze
Label: Ipecac Recordings
Description: Cor de Lux interview: Tim Lusk and Dawn Moraga on Year Of The Horse, out September 18 on Ipecac Recordings.
The record surfaces a fractured strain of modern American life, from political disillusionment to the friction between individual conscience and inherited belief. Water surrounds the band on both sides out on the Outer Banks, and something of that solitude and distance runs under the songs, even if never named directly.
Featured image: © Jordan Olivia Howell
I don’t think musicians or artists of any sorts ever choose to become that.. they just if lucky follow what calls and they move.”
—Cor de Lux
What kind of music influenced you before you became an artist, and what motivated you to choose music as a career?
I remember the first time hearing these songs as a kid for the first time. The songs that you hear that stop you and make a permanent memory in your mind.
Tool: Sober
Berlin: Take my Breath Away
Sonic youth: Bull in the heather
Breeders: Cannonball
Led Zeppelin: Kashmir
I was young and was fed music from Radio, Tv , and grew up on all my step dad’s classic rock. I fell in love with falling in love with music and started playing guitar at 11. I don’t think musicians or artists of any sorts ever choose to become that.. they just if lucky follow what calls and they move.
When did you first notice that you worked so well together as a band?
On the first practice. There was that chemistry and we just clicked together.
What was it like building a band in the Outer Banks, away from the usual indie-rock scene? Do the Outer Banks show up in these songs, even indirectly?
Someone once said they heard water when we played. Lol I don’t know about that but we are surrounded on both sides by water and I’m sure it has a greater pull on our lives than we know. We love the solitude and quiet places that the outerbanks offers.. for me it’s hard to listen and be refueled if your mind and ears are surrounded by noise.
What pushed these themes of a “fractured modern life” to the surface?
Life. You can’t keep quiet what screams for too long.
We are surrounded on both sides by water and I’m sure it has a greater pull on our lives than we know. We love the solitude and quiet places that the outerbanks offers.”
—Cor de Lux
Does the album have a narrative arc, or does each song stand alone?
Each song is somewhat different from the one before. We don’t set out to write a theme for an album or song.. The music tells us what the lyrics should be .
Is there a lyric on the album you’d call the emotional center of the record?
There’s a lyric in The Deli that says
“To fall in mud, doesn’t make you stuck, safe on the line.. you’ll never grow taller”
It’s not prime stuck in their doctrines, political views so much that they are blinded to kindness and growth.
In the western there’s a lyric ” Like A fish in bowl , you feed me all your flakes , you want to keep me small, I’m your holy tank”
It’s about hypocrisy in religion. It’s something personally I needed to get out
Was “The Deli” inspired by something specific you witnessed?
to say the past few years of US politics have been a joke is an understatement. It’s been embarrassing and sad and anger provoking all together. The division and hate brought tears , brought us lyrics, and hopefully time will bring change.
Life. You can’t keep quiet what screams for too long.”
—Cor de Lux
What changes for you now that you’re on Ipecac?
I’m not sure.. but we will continue to work hard and tour and step into the opportunities we can with the step up they’ve help provide. We are extremely grateful.
What’s next for you after this album?
We have about 4 new ones towards the next album so definitely are writing!
Photo courtesy of Cor de Lux
Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others
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