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In the immortal words of John Cleese… “Now for something completely different!” At the opposite end of the rock/metal spectrum, away from the Pandora’s Box of bone-crushing riffs and blood-curdling screams, comes the Siren’s call of melody and harmony. LA’s Lost In Atlantis ply a crossover brand they dub ‘rocktronica’, which does exactly what it says on the tin… a fusion of rock, pop, electronica, and dance. I told you it was different!
You may not have heard of Lost In Atlantis before, but don’t be fooled into thinking they’re some new kids on the block. LIA have been around for over six years, touring relentlessly, and releasing two full-length albums, ‘Silent World (2010), and ‘Lover Freak’ (2013).
Now we have ‘This World Is Ours: Pt.1’, a five track EP, with Pt.2 sure to follow.
Opening proceedings is ‘Guardian Angel’, which from the moment the snare swells, leading in the burst of bass and guitar, got me thinking of top-down, open road driving, Aviators on. The verses drive along nicely, with a jangly guitar sound, leading into a chorus with a massive hook. The sort of hook that curls the corner of your mouth up in a wry smile of acknowledged familiarity.
‘Wild Kids’ follows, in a completely different vein… slower, more restrained. As before, the rhythm drives the song, but in a more melancholic way. This is a larger production, multi-layered with a piano lead, guitar accents, gang vocal backing, and strings, powerful and brooding. The sort of song that you could imagine in the second act of a movie soundtrack. Think ‘Cry Little Sister’ from Lost Boys.
Things return to the rockier side with ‘Real You’, but with a heavier electronica influence. This is very much a rock song, don’t get me wrong, with a strong guitar-based rhythm (and a few pinch harmonics thrown in), but the keys are the most dominant they’ve been so far, with a clubland-infused instrumental, grounded by some ‘proper’ distorted guitar.
Title track, ‘This World Is Ours’ is the most ‘pop’ track here, which, apart from the guitar intro, has a heavy dance influence, complete with synth breakdowns, leading back to a massive chorus… a proper ‘hands-in-the-air, jumping’ moment.
I can hear this track fitting in nicely with Ferry Corsten and Freemasons remixes on my next gym mix. It might not be metal, but it’s great to run to!
Talking of which, the final track, and set closer here, is… ‘Run’! If ever a song encapsulates Lost In Atlantis’ ‘rocktronica’ motif, surely this is it. At it’s heart, is a hard rockin’, powerful, rhythmically driven song, tempered, and indeed enhanced, by the many layers of synth sounds, strings, and a bit of slap bass. Oh, and we get a guitar solo thrown in there too. I like it!
LIA know how to put a song together. They know a hook when they hear it, and they know how to blur the lines between genres, to the point where some will question whether they should really be listening to this, let alone enjoying it!
I have no doubt there will be some who will object to Lost In Atlantis being featured or reviewed here at DGM, purely because it’s not ‘metal’. The same people who get upset at the mere mention of Babymetal, or ‘Collision Course’, for example.
I have listened to this EP many times now in order to review it, and do you know what? I will listen to it again, just because I want to… for pleasure.
‘This World Is Ours: Pt.1 is available to buy now via iTunes
Follow Lost In Atlantis on Facebook
Lost In Atlantis are:
Elisabetha Rosnowski – Vocals
Line Sorrenson- Bass
Ryan Streeter – Guitar
Daniel Lape- Guitar
David Allen – Drums
Review: Rob Nankivell
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