After spending 2024 wrestling with that classic second album syndrome, Hotel Lux have returned, having finally pinned writer’s block down on the mat. Named after a Billy Childish song that inspired the band’s formation, The Bitter Cup is a rough and ready LP that marks a new creative direction for the five-piece.
Hotel Lux’s well-received debut, Hands Across the Creek, was laced with politically charged vitriol, and fans will be relieved to hear that the band refuse to shy away from tackling tricky topics on their second full-length offering. From ‘Costermonger’, a musical interpretation of a BBC documentary about the fall of Deptford Market, to ‘Another One Gone’, a lament for those the band have lost to suicide, The Bitter Cup reflects myriad issues in…