Lost Like Alice are a three piece rock band based on The Isle Of Anglesey in North Wales. They are currently working on their debut EP and have released various singles up until now, including “Wake Me Up”, “Whence” and their latest, entitled “Empty Tank”. There is a steely sleekness of purpose in the band’s music. A gritty traction and relentless evolution is noticeable in their songs. The latest being, passionate, intimate and tender. There is much to admire about the detailed and sensitive songwriting and performance. Everything feels so balanced and confident, as if Lost Like Alice have found their favored direction.
“Empty Tank” is a gentle, pastoral, warm-hearted sounding record. The etherealness of the recording will spook the horses, and makes you feel like accosting virtual strangers and bore them half to death about how great this record sounds.
There aren’t many alternative rock bands I can think of who are able to deliver something as vitally minimal as this and still make an impact. Lyrically it creates a pop-up puzzle in the mind, sending the listener on a potentially endless exploratory journey, pursuing the pointers and chasing the clues.
Every critic knows that a million words of art theory can be vaporized by one moment of transcendent artistic beauty, and bang on cue, a few arrive in this song – for one, the hypnotic keyboard chords, and then the choir-like harmonies, the gently jangling guitar and finally the understated heart-rending and breathy lead vocals.
The result is a gentle and sumptuous piece of alt-rock which embraces you in a reverie that seems to stop time itself.
“Empty Tank” stands out because it sounds like the band’s most focused effort so far, and where the theory of ‘less is more’, absolutely pays off dividends. On this single, Lost Like Alice have completely stripped off any excesses, getting to the bare core of their music, and what comes through is sheer emotional force and intelligence.
By paring down excess, Lost Like Alice have managed to marry the music, the performance and the lyrics more successfully than they have done before on their previous singles. As good as the others songs are, they sound like man-made compositions, whereas “Empty Tank” seems to live and breathe out of its own free will.
This may sound odd as an explanation, right now, but you will get the gist of it once you’ve heard the song.
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