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Last week, another chapter in the career of Lucas Carlos was written. On Tuesday, 21st, the carioca launched the deluxe Looking for Romance Love Show (2024), an extension of the original project that could easily stand on its own. To break down the new album, the Rolling Stone Brazil spoke with the singer in a relaxed chat full of revelations.

In conversation, Lucas revealed that the idea of ​​launching a deluxe is not exactly new — he had been thinking about it for years, but previous plans did not come to fruition. “THE youngCARLOS (2022) almost had a deluxe, the Two (2023) too. I always wanted to do this, but it never really happened,” he said. “This was the first one where I managed to execute it the way I imagined it from the beginning.”

According to the singer, I seek Romance Love Show (Deluxe) It was born as a natural extension of the 2024 album, but with its own identity. The intention of launching a deluxe was always part of the artistic planning, but this time the project took on more defined contours. He realized that the original album might not please all audiences, especially fans of previous phases, marked by different sounds. Therefore, he decided to create an extension that maintained the same thematic universe, but explored new atmospheres.

His new project appears as an emotional complement to the previous album, expanding its narrative and revealing other perspectives of the same character. The difference, according Lucasis in the eyes of the lyrical self: if on the 2024 album he sang with a certain conformism, here there is a glimmer of hope. It is the moment in which love still seems possible, before the disappointments that would take it to the next phase of the story.

New sounds

The project marks a shift not only lyrically, but also sonically. In I seek Romance Love Show (Deluxe), Lucas deepens the relationship between R&B, pagode, trap and electronic music, experimenting with synthesizers, garage beats and textures that dialogue with contemporary pop and Brazilian funk. He explains that, unlike the original album — which had a more introspective feel —, the extension seeks fluidity and contrast. Each track represents a stage in history and a facet of their musical identity.

The fusion of styles is one of the central points of the new work. Lucas explains how it finds balance between genres without losing its own essence. “I feel like I can step into these new places and still maintain my art the way I like to do it,” he said. This versatility appears on tracks like “Neon” and “Spell”in which he ventures into electronic timbres and synthesizers without abandoning the emotional musicality that has always marked his career.

And despite having a career marked by embracing various genres, the singer says he still has paths he wants to explore: “There’s a song from Drake with the PARTYNEXTDOOR which is kind of country. I think it’s cool. I even had a guide that I was going to send to Marília Mendonçaof trap with country music. That was before she passed away,” he revealed.

A new (old) creative process

During the production of the new album, Lucas Carlos underwent a change that was less technical and more behavioral. After years of being used to creating improvised, the artist decided to slow down. “For a long time I made music like this: you listen to the beat, think and do it”, he said. “Node I seek romance original has a lot of music like that, but now, for example, ‘Just One More Time’ was more thought out. If I finish a sentence, I have a little space to breathe.” This breath is literal and symbolic: it represents the return of Lucas to the patient writing that marked the beginning of his career.

Part of this turnaround came from coexistence with Delacruzanother name from the Brazilian R&B scene. “I talk a lot with Delacruz about it. He is a guy who is very meticulous with his music”, he said. “He is not a guy who will come to the studio with us today, write a verse and tomorrow the song will be ready. And he opened my eyes to that.” The exchange between the two made Lucas rethinking the time of creation — something that, according to him, helped him reconnect with the pleasure of composing without rushing.

This reconstruction also affected the sound of the deluxe. The singer revisited tracks, rewrote verses and even re-recorded entire parts, seeking a more organic result. “‘Neon’ it was a song that was already kind of ready, I redid the entire verse”, he explained. “The most recent voice on the album is that of ‘Everywhere’. I listened to the old one and didn’t like it, it was too overdubbed. Then I stayed here in the studio at home and re-recorded everything.” The process was almost artisanal, with attention to detail and a critical eye that shows the maturity of those who learned to listen to themselves.

Participations, references and inspirations

In relation to the participation of other singers, Lucas chose to add just one: Trinidad Cardona in “Everywhere”. The song was born during a trip to Mexico, in a studio shared with Ship, Bug Bunny (producer of Don Toliver and Lil Uzi Vert) and the Trinidad.

After years of collaborating with other artists, he felt it was time to deliver more personal work, centered on his own voice. “I wanted to make more songs of my own, for people to really hear what Lucasokay?”, he said. “In the last albums, there was a lot of participation, and I think the public was missing that too.”

However, when asked about dream appearances — a Brazilian, a foreigner and one who has already passed away — for the deluxe, the artist replied: “If I were a Brazilian, I would be the Yunk Wineforeign, Destin Conrad and who has already passed away… [pensou] I’ll say two, Tim Maia and the michael jacksonright? The greatest of all.”

The deluxe is also a reflection of his recent influences and the references that shaped his trajectory. Lucas quote The Weeknd and the album Dawn FM (2022) as one of the biggest inspirations for the project’s visual and sound concept, in addition to Alone at Prom (2021), by Tory Lanezand the last two albums of Lil Teccawhich helped him find a balance between melody and rhythm. “These records have a lot of melody, a lot of new jazz, a cleaner trap. I like that type of sound, I think it’s current,” he said.

The musical background also comes from home. Lucas grew up listening to the records his older brothers played, discovering classics michael jackson and Rick Astley and mixing references from different generations. This combination, according to him, shaped his versatility — something that is reflected in his discography. “My brothers are almost 50 years old, so I have a lot of cool experience because of them. They showed me a lot of old stuff that I still listen to in the car today,” he said.

The future

With the deluxe, Lucas Carlos closes a cycle and, at the same time, opens a new one. The singer explains that the project is just the first part of a larger narrative, designed as a sequence of four interconnected albums. This structure makes the new album function as a prologue — the beginning of a story that will unfold in the next chapters.

In addition to continuing to expand this sound and emotional universe, Lucas also has plans to explore different presentation formats. In recent months, the artist has been interspersing acoustic shows with traditional performances. For him, the reduced format allows for a reunion with the public and with the very essence of the composition. “I like doing the acoustic, but I think the acoustic has to be a seasonal thing”, he explained. “It’s a different atmosphere, it’s about being closer to the people, talking, making mistakes, laughing. I really enjoy that too.”

These two versions — the intense and the intimate — coexist in his career and reflect the same search for authenticity. While electric shows showcase the technical and grandiose side of Lucasthe acoustics reveal the voice, the word and the feeling. This duality also manifests itself in the way he plans his tours, alternating performances aimed at large festivals with smaller, more personal sets, always keeping the narrative of the albums alive on stage.

Finally, the singer also confirmed that, among the next steps, is a project in collaboration with BK’with whom he maintains a long-standing friendship and creative connection, with songs such as “Músicas de amor Nunca mais” and “Quadros”:

“Man, you can’t be anxious, but I think it’s more right now than before. Now we really want to do it. But it’s been so long since the first time we talked. When we start moving, you’ll notice. Then the fun starts. But I think giving hope is also cool, but now it’s more right than before — it’s more yes than no.”

Even with new paths ahead, Lucas feels more centered than ever. Between the studio and the stage, he found his own rhythm — that of an artist who learned to respect the timing of things. The future, for him, is not a rush: it is a natural continuity for those who continue building, step by step, one of the most consistent catalogs of contemporary Brazilian R&B.

+++READ MORE: Luccas Carlos is still looking for ‘Romance Love Show’, but more mature and sure of his choices in the deluxe

• Lucas Carlos