Track listing: Cosmic Lollipop, 39 Charles Street, Don't Wanna Be This Disease, Everything Ft. stig, Sober, On Them Lines, In The City, Gone Off The Rock, PURPLE, Demons, Everclear, Death From A Million Paper Cuts, Addicts Mind, Lost My Mind Ft. stig (Remix), My Mind Is Gone, The Afterworld, The Stairway, Ghost, Desperado, Kings Cross (Cocaina), Pussy On My Mind (Remix) Ft. Stig, Life’s Electric, Ponds Of Sound, You and Me and Melody, My Heart Is A Fading Star, Breathe, Diamond, My Chains A Fallen Halo, More Than Glory, About A Dollar, Life Goes On, Another Step On The Stairway, Miracle, Atomic, Hugo, Just A Lie, Shells, Dancing With No Shoes On, Let's Heal Today

I had the chance to visit with Black Astronaut Records' Charles Luck recently, which will become an episode of Cupchairs' In The Chair With... interview series soon (we'll post it when it drops!). And, damn, I learned a lot. After my review of 39 Charles Street back in August 2025 I had as many questions as answers. I knew he collabs with Chicago-based Tino Red on a number of tracks...but diving into a conversation with Luck, I learned the history of both 39 Charles Street and his latest release, the follow-up / reinterpretation: 39 Charles Street (The Renovation).

The title track tells much of the story's premise: "the story of how I became Charles Luck," both the human and the domicile the album's named after. It wasn't pretty, to be sure. Shit went down. Listen closely and you'll learn the difficult truths.

Musically, Luck is the lyricist. He cranks out lyrics at a fevered clip and sends them all over the damn place. Rappers and producers from all over, in all styles, bring his words to their musical life. And samples abound! "39 Charles Street" pulls in the classic "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The next track on the record, "Don't Wanna Be This Disease" channels the riff from Everclear's "Santa Monica." There are enough familiar sounds from different genres and decades to engage most objective listeners.

The Renovation pulls 17 tracks from its predecessor, with 22 new tracks (yes, there are 39 on each; see what he did there?). Included in the overlap are some true heavy hitters--"Addict's Mind" and "Death From a Million Paper Cuts" stand out. New tracks include the Zeppelin sampling "Another Step On The Stairway" and a last-minute add-on, "Let's Heal Today"--a touching track inspired by Luck's connection to his listeners in Ukraine, where he's interestingly got the most streamers of his music. Go figure!?

39 Charles Street (The Renovation) is a lot to take-in. It's 3-4 normal albums worth of music, which is a credit to Luck's prolific writing output. You've got the more aggressive tracks like "Hugo" up against the mellow Barenaked Ladies' sample in "Life Goes On." It's kind of War and Peace of a Hip-Hop record. There are many stories to be told and songs to be sung. But across the diverse sounds of the album, you can sense the commonality of the storyteller, himself. It's an autobiography, after all. And while we've all done all sorts of different things in our lives, it is each of us individually who make our own stories unique.  You can dive fully into the story of Charles Luck at soundcloud.com/blackastronautrecords.