Remember the first time you heard an album that made you think and feel as if something epic, cinematic even, was unfolding right in front of you? Welcome to that feeling again. Today we have the privilege of premiering the newest album from Lost in Kiev, Persona. I went into some depth discussing the album last week in our review and now I’m more than delighted to get to share it with all of you.
You’ll find yourself awash in lush soundscapes of guitars, synths, and a deep-pocketed rhythm section time and again which is a very good thing. In comparing their sound to the likes of 65daysofstatic, Cult of Luna, This Will Destroy You, and others who create expansive, almost dreamlike states from their interplay we welcome a new band into this distinguished club. So sit back, relax, and dissolve into Persona.
One of the things I touched on in that review is the thematic presence of artificial intelligence entwined with our very real humanity as a point of major exploration for this Parisian quartet. In the interest of feeding that understanding here, I’ve included a few notes that we received from the band in addition to what we revealed in last week’s review. These notes make the listening even more compelling but I would suggest you listen without them to establish your own thoughts on the theme before going for the deep dive into what’s below. Either way, we think you will enjoy the ride.
The track “XM3216” is a reference to the US military robot currently in use, the XM1216. For this song, we imagined an unprecedented robotic invasion of Armenia. We have tracked a traditional Armenian musical instrument, the duduk. Similar to the oboe, the warm sound of the instrument and the amount of breath power required to play it stand in stark contrast to the coldness and violence of robots and machines.
“Psyche” is a reference to the ploys that humans have always been able to deploy to bring life to human beings or to machines, perfect or not, objects of benevolence or domination, their creations are often the fruit of our fears and deep anxieties. “Thumos”, can be considered as the breath of life or as the desire for recognition that is very specific to humans in an ideal or unhealthy perspective.
The last track, “Mecasocialis” starts off with a quasi-prophetic sample announcing the inauguration of a more human future. Do not all of us sometimes have the feeling that our lives are already robotic and regulated, that we move within the paradigms and presets of school/uni/work/death like robots following pre-programmed patterns? Once artificial intelligence will provide a perfect imitation of human behavior, what will remain of humanity?
Wherever you are in the world, there are ways to get your hands on this album. See below:
North America: http://bit.ly/lostinkievNAM
Europe: http://bit.ly/lostinkievEU
Australia: http://bit.ly/lostinkievAUS
Digital: http://bit.ly/lostinkievDGTL