Lostaura-MP3s
by Kid 73
Lostaura’s lead singer raises an open hand into the air, outstretched and taut - then makes a fist and brings his arm down, slowly, tapping his fist to his chest whilst weeping. That’s the immediate feeling I get from listening to the angst-riddled and soulful sounds of Lostaura. ‘It should begin with an A’ starts with melodic harmonising, down-tempo beats and strumming chords and that’s exactly where it stays for the whole song. No build-up or break-down just syncopated lyrics, sometimes stretched for emotional effect. 
'Raise your voice' is in a similar vein but even more down-tempo with echoing guitar and acoustic accompaniment to the harmonies. This eventually builds up to a minimal crescendo of howling and drumbeat. 'Make your mark' surprises me with an almost drum n' bass, high-hat tempo to start that fades in and out through the tune with great effect. As possibly the best and most rounded track of all of the ones I heard, it still has the “clenched fist” soulfulness, but also has a structure and a bit of balls without being an O.C. soundtrack candidate. All 8 tracks 
from the band are angst-riddled in a way that possibly Eddie Vedder would relate to - as he feels the angst for everyone in the world. These are not sunny day tracks but when we live in England we don’t always have sunny days. Parts of the tracks shine, don’t get me wrong, but the atmospheric swaying of the lyrics combined with the strumming and plucking all seem a bit dour. Bands have made masses of cash and based their whole musical life on being heartfelt, over-sensitive and downright miserable. But I don’t think that is what Lostaura want - I don’t know them but I'm taking a shot in the dark, bang! Obviously musically talented and the closest I can come to a comparison is 'I Am Klute' - without the vocal experimentation and musical direction. I also felt they had a touch more '80s rock ballad' than was needed.
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