For almost everyone, the entry point for discovering the music of Q Lazzarus came via “Goodbye Horses.” The song first appeared in 1988, via Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob, but it would not become fully lodged into popular consciousness until it infamously materialized again in Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. “Goodbye Horses” felt like a self-contained universe – dreamlike and wholly unusual, an instant classic that left listeners captivated and curious about the mysterious voice behind it. That voice belonged to Diane Luckey, a uniquely talented artist whose music was ahead of its time and who would ultimately remain largely unrecognized in her lifetime.
In conjunction with the release of Aridjis Fuentes’ documentary film Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, Sacred Bones is releasing a collection of songs that span the entirety of Q’s career, showcasing the different eras of her work and the full breadth of her personality. The first collection of music to be given the blessing of Q’s remaining family, Goodbye Horses has the distinction of being her first and only full-length release.
Recorded between 1985 and 1995, this trove of previously unreleased music reflects some of the most interesting facets of pop music from the past four decades in a way that feels both savvy and wildly eclectic. The titular “Goodbye Horses” remains a singular piece of spooky new wave perfection and one might imagine an entire Q Lazzarus album coiled around this aesthetic, but much like singers such as Alison Moyet, Annie Lennox, or Lisa Gerrard, Q’s chameleonic voice could lend itself perfectly to a variety of styles and settings. Her cover of Talking Heads’ “Heaven” transforms the song into a full-throated power ballad complete with tinkly piano flourishes, while her take on Gershwin’s “Summertime” sounds like the kind of dubby club redux that could have been a perfect companion to anything from Nightclubbing-era Grace Jones. Tracks like “My Mistake” and “Hellfire” flirt with house music and showcase just how brassy and belty Q’s voice could be when she really let loose, while “Don’t Let Go” sounds like the kind of bombastic radio single Cher might have released several decades ago. Elsewhere, songs like “Bang Bang” and “I See Your Eyes” espouse the kind of guitar-driven alt-rock sensibilities that, in a parallel universe, could have made them staples on 120 Minutes.
Goodbye Horses represents the potential for so many different kinds of careers that, for whatever reason, never fully materialized. That we now have these songs in the world, and a clearer picture of the person behind them, is nothing short of a blessing.
