From the humble origins of one man and his laptop, the musical life of Galway based Lost Chord has been one of fusion and evolution as they carefully pieced together what is now a tight and formidable five man ensemble. This organic coming together of differing styles and influences in a creative melting pot is obvious throughout their debut EP, displaying comparably the constant mashing of genres with admirable depth and diversity.
Ignore the self-deprecating title of There is No Lost Chord as it’s clear from the off there certainly is and they are comfortable in any quarter, be it jumping from the urgent and frantic post-punk ‘Cheats’ to the melodic, cheerful and hook laden ‘You Do Not Do’ and ‘Up North’. Lyrically it’s brimming with bohemian tales of lust, infidelity, trepidation and well-meaning perversion, while the instrumental ingredient endeavours to convey in tandem those and similar sentiments. The angry and menacing ‘Records not Fear’, an eloquent attack on the industry of fads, cool lists and the fear of missing the boat heralds these skills to the fullest for all to hear.
While these guys like to mix it up style wise they can be most easily classified as ‘indie’, in its purist form that is, which after all is about doing your own thing without the suits of the majors corrupting musical integrity. It’s a result for their first offering and it will be interesting to see where they go from here, up next is the Dublin launch of the EP in The Twisted Pepper on April 10.