Dark Music Review – Lost Here
Review Written By Casey Douglass
After her split debut Earth Songs with Dronny Darko in 2015, protoU now returns with her solo debut album Lost Here. An album that takes place in realms beyond reality, deep dreams of fragmented visions tied together with a sonic backdrop full of low key drone work and accentuated with field recordings.
When I saw that protoU
was releasing another album, I was instantly interested as I very
much enjoyed her split album Earth Songs (I still listen to it
regularly too). Listening to Lost Here, the elements of protoU
in Earth Songs became that little bit clearer: the relaxed,
gentle quality of many of the sounds used and the use of field
recordings with the harsh edges given the audio equivalent of a “good
sand papering”, so that there are less sharp edges for the listener to
prick themselves on. Having found Earth Songs to be one of the
most relaxing dark ambient albums I’ve listened to so far, I am
quite happy to report that Lost Here is another soothing
listening experience.
Lost Here is a
dark ambient album that revels in putting the listener into
soundscapes that both lull and instill an element of risk. The very
first track: Lost Here, is one such example. It opens with the sound
of the wind alongside a low-key drone, but soon sees a swelling resonance
emerge that dances around at the higher end of the sound scale. The
sound of running water and bird calls can then be heard, and a little
later, the sound of what seem to be clattering pebbles, but muted,
not harsh at all. The track sees the wind sound grow progressively
stronger and move from ear to ear, the relatively peaceful beginning
becoming lost in the stormy conditions as it progresses. Listening to
this track gave me the impression of someone enjoying a nice long
twilight hike, enjoying nature in almost every way, but upon
discovering that they are lost, finding those same sights and sounds
more threatening and chilling without that mental safety net of
knowing where they are. A very good track indeed.
The Map is the next
track that I wanted to mention, in part because I felt it offered a
change of soundscape that departed from the natural, as far as I
could tell at least. It begins with a resonant, strong high note that
swirls in a dark space. Sounds of movement/rustling echo, along with
a juddery drone, giving the impression of the listener being in an
abandoned building, maybe an old factory or meeting hall. There is
also an excellent sound of what could quite possibly be teeth or
bones being slowly stirred around in a ceramic bowl. That might just
be my horror brain working overtime though. The titular map also
might be in the track, what sounds like rustling paper crops up here
and there, so keep an ear out for that. While the first track
showcased the movement in nature, The Map seemed to bring a more
man-made soundscape to the table, to deposit the listener in an empty
dark space.
The final track that I
wanted to mention specifically is Believe. It gets going with a deep
throbbing opening, soon joined by bubble-like lighter notes and a
shimmering distortion, maybe like sun-rays dancing through water.
This distortion rattles the ears as it turns to warbley electronic
spikes and echoes. There are other deeper sounds too, dripping water
and a strange detuned radio effect, snatches of voices and the squeal
of transmission a very interesting thing to rest the mind on. After
this, a proper clear voice does speak too. A very cool track with
some great sounding and interesting effects. Maybe the subject of the
album has collapsed and keeps passing in and out of consciousness, a nearby
radio fuelling the feverish visions as nature claims them? Just one
of the few scenarios that occurred to me.
Lost Here is a
fantastic listen, and one that mixes the lulling properties of sounds
that should be relaxing with a certain cold chilliness that keeps
things interesting. I could prattle on for longer but I don’t think
there is any real need. I give it 4.5/5 and can certainly
imagine it entering my repeat listening playlist.
Check out Lost Here
on bandcamp at this link.
You can listen to “The
Map” below:
I was given a free
copy of this album to review.
Album Title: Lost Here
Artist: protoU
Label : Cryo Chamber
