Artist Watch: The Secret Handshake

The Secret Handshake aka Luis Dubuc has been around since 2004 when he self-released his first full length album. It wasn’t until 2007 that his career began to pick-up momentum with the EP (an album bigger than a single but too small to be considered a full length album) Summer of 98. I don’t know if you have heard any of the songs from that album but the title track (Summer of 98) is one of my favorites. It is complete electronic-pop very reminiscent of the band Hellogoodbye specifically their song Here (In Your Arms). In 2008 Luis covered Skee-lo’s song  I Wish  for the compilation album Punk Goes Crunk  which ultimately mainstreamed his name for many listeners. This week The Secret Handshake debuts the new album Night and Day.  This album has a completely different feel than his previous albums. It is heavily influenced by Motown/soul music. In fact every song on this track sounds like it could have been a hit back in the 60’s. Every Single Time has such an amazing oldies feel that I actually don’t want to stop listening to it. The same feel applies to songs like Domino, Woman, and Magic. It is really impressive to me that Luis is able to take such a classic music-artform, like Motown, and infuse it with his electronic tendencies. All in all this is an album I am seriously considering purchasing, and I suggest you should as well.  Good job Luis.
The Secret Handshake's upcoming album (featuring the songs mentioned in this blog) is available for free listening this week on AOL's free listening party.