The album was recorded at Beech House in Nashville by Marky Nevers (Lambchop), revised and tweaked at a few studios in Brooklyn, and finally mixed at RonnieJone$ound by Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk). The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport is a big leap forward in Luke’s songwriting. While Luke’s plain spoken lyrics are still present, they are now embedded in far more complex and dynamic arrangements. Where the debut was a raw country blues style recording with minimal editing and accompaniment, Iron Gates features many additional players from drums to harmonica, and notably the fiddle and mandolin of country player Billy Contraraz, and the backing vocals of Emily Sunblad.

The lyrics are again deeply personal and in many cases the songs speak of struggle, redemption and again, struggle. Luke has the uncanny ability to take deeply personal emotions such as the ones in “I Don’t Want You Anymore” and make them resonate with the listener as a shared experience. He is in the moment and you are in it with him: love, desire, loss, the search for a sense of belonging, and a sense of place, all of which are core human emotions. He is very much a person, who while no longer the freewheeling train hopper of his youth, is still traveling. Now his travels are philosophical searches for answers to life’s biggest questions. A potent example is “His Song”. A spiritual quest to find the “why”, the “what”, the “who”, and the “how” of it all.

The ability to to lay bare not only the toughest of emotions but the search for answers in such a deceptively simple and relatable voice, makes Luke Roberts an utterly unique and compelling artist. The lovely instrumentation and arrangements of The Iron Gates and Throop and Newport make for a beautiful sounding album. Luke’s ability to capture many of life’s pivotal moments with such a simple and emotionally resonate voice makes him stand out as a songwriter and as a performer.