Lucius – aka Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig – have criticized Harry Styles for downplaying their contribution to his Fine Line track “Treat People With Kindness.”
The singers said they were happy to add their voices to the song when Styles asked.
"If it’s just ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs,’ it’s not a big deal and it’s a good opportunity for us,” Wolfe told the Los Angeles Times. “But we started singing and we were singing the whole chorus.”
Laessig added: “We thought he was gonna add on top after and that we’d be in the background.”
They were surprised when they heard the completed song “and it was literally us,” Wolfe recalled. “We start the song, we sing every chorus, just us. We trade off the bridge. It is us and Harry Styles. Harry Styles and us.”
Although credited for their vocals, Lucius is not listed as the featured act on “Treat People With Kindness” – depriving the duo of valuable global exposure.
“It just hurt,” Wolfe admitted. “Here was an opportunity to spread the love a little bit, which he purports to do all the time. And it could’ve really helped us.”
(The Times said a rep for Styles declined to comment.)
Lucius, who released their fourth studio album, Second Nature, last week, is scheduled to perform on May 18 at The Opera House in Toronto – the lone Canadian stop on a world tour.