Album review – Lostaura
Lostaura - The Hiding Place
You’d pretty much have to be walking around like that deaf dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball not to have noticed that there has been a massive plundering of eighties music over the past three or four years. However what you may not realise is that the eighties had some good music that wasn’t electro-pop or Smiths influenced jangly guitar music. Even more shocking might be that, at one time, musical megalomaniacs U2 fell into that category. Well fortunately for you, Lostaura are here to fill this huge gap in your musical education.
They list their influences as Muse, Elbow and Coldplay amongst others, but to me Lostaura sound closer to those early eighties stadium bands U2 (before they went bad) and Simple Minds (before they lost themselves up their own backsides). With all members being qualified musicians it’s not surprising that, like their predecessors, Lostaura’s sound is tight and big. Their natural habitat a stadium rather than the back room of a pub, they have been championed by various national papers and radio DJ including Tom Robinson but how do they sound on record?
Well, mini album ‘The Hiding Place’ the third release from Lostaura says they sound pretty damn good. Featuring six epic tracks, including piano led ‘All It’s Worth’ and the rockier ‘One In A Million’, the standout track here is ‘Beside You’ which, with its nifty guitar work, sounds like the younger brother of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. All in all terrific debut, they might just make those stadiums yet. 4/5
This review originally appeared in Artrocker magazine. www.artrocker.tv
