Lucifer – Gone with the Wind Is My Love (7 Inch Single Review)

On the brink of releasing a new full-length album, Lucifer offered fans a new 7 inch single, Gone with the Wind Is My Love, on Friday, June 4, 2021 through Century Media Records.

An inconspicuous but beautiful choice, “Gone with the Wind Is My Love” was originally recorded by Rita & The Tiaras, written by Louis Barreto, and released by Dore in 1967.  Lucifer’s chief voice, Johanna Sadonis, takes up a duet with Elin Larsson of Blues Pills, marking a perfect enmeshing of vocal talent as the two overlap enough to sound as each other’s twin. The pair diverge enough to add lush layers where the original version had as many as three backing singers to help Rita lead. Lucifer included a version of The Rolling Stones track “Dancing with Mr. D” back on 2018’s Lucifer II, so this could be a return to regular covers work.

The B-side is “Cemetery Eyes,” the closer from their highly-successful 2020 release Lucifer III; the version here was recorded during the Century Media Isolation Festival in May 2020, the band tucked inside their normal rehearsal space for the occasion. (They rounded out their portion of the four-hour festival with “Flanked by Snakes” and “Reaper On Your Heels.”) “Cemetery Eyes” was already a strong, lingering reminder of the most recent Lucifer full-length release, and in a live setting, the smattering of guitar solos on the latter half of the track manage to sound even more haunting.

But all due respect to the original track, “Gone with the Wind Is My Love” is the focus here, with a rich instrumental background that only serves to augment the two soaring voices that take turns propping each other to new heights. The backing band takes great pains to recreate the dense ’60s Soul background of the original, while also leaving enough space for Larsson and Sadonis to explore the broad expanse created.

Between a fresh, albeit fairly obscure cover, and the excellent live rendition of an immediate classic, Lucifer have announced their rebirth from the pandemic in grand style. Gone with the Wind Is My Love should win as many new fans as it pleases existing fans, and the ground is set for Lucifer IV sooner rather than later. For this, Cryptic Rock gives Gone with the Wind Is My Love 4.5 out of 5 stars.