LOST VELVET On New Album Dark Cells: "Atmospheric Driven...It's Become A Bigger, Bolder Sound"
I established early on doing this whole journalist thing that I clearly don't like sitting around doing nothing: Just yesterday, I made the journey to Bedford Esquires, playing at and supporting the third HMS Fest event; today, I've swapped Bedford for London, stepping out of my comfort zone and on to the tube to 229, a great little venue hidden on Portland Street in London. I'm here to catch up with atmospheric rock duo LOST VELVET, tonight performing as a four piece supporting Copenhagen's Town Portal, ahead of the release of their debut album Dark Cells.
It turns out as well that former Nightwish vocalist Annette Olzon is playing next door, which explains the copious amounts of band t-shirts waiting around as I arrive.
I'm quickly greeted by Lost Velvet vocalist Melissa and we head downstairs to the venue, where the band are just finishing up their soundcheck.
After the soundcheck, we find a quiet spot outside, combining a quick chat with a post soundcheck smoke break, joined now by the other half of Lost Velvet, Rob.
"We play live as a four piece but always work in the studio as a two piece," Rob clarifies their stance, their live set tonight padded out by an additional drummer and bassist. "We've been working together for a couple of years now."
"We try to get a bit of a David Lynch feel to everything if we can"
The project itself, Melissa explains, came about after she was looking for something new. "[Rob] was already in a project, and he was looking for a bass player. I went online and was looking to join an existing project or work with someone and I came across [him], and then I chased him up as a vocalist. I didn't hear from him for like two or three months.
"Then about, we were on our way to Download, and I got an email, and I was like 'three months later, he's replied'. I liked the sound of the stuff he sent me, and we kind of went from there."
In the two years since, Lost Velvet has put out one EP and a handful of singles, leading up to debut album Dark Cells, now available on streaming platforms.
"It's been quite drawn out to be honest," Rob starts, "It took a while getting everything finished. We've been working with mixing engineer Michael Patterson who's worked with Nine Inch Nails and Beck. So it's been a pleasure working with him, having him involved as well. Most of the year we've just been kind of refining it, working through it. We didn't actually have the album finished prior to releasing the first singles, and I think we've learnt we won't be doing that again."
"I think anyone who's actually heard any of our singles will already get the gist that there's quite a bit of variety in what we're going to deliver"
When I ask about the duo's influences for the album, they're quick to rattle a list off. "Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Deftones is a big influence, A Perfect Circle...so yeah, we try to craft something akin to that kind of world."
"I'd say the songwriting just feels like the natural next steps," Rob compares Dark Cells to the duo's 2025 EP Endless. "A lot of these songs were written shortly after or in that similar time period [to the EP], so songwriting wise, I feel like it's very much a continuation. Sound wise, production wise, that's where things changed from the early EP. Predominantly bringing in Michael, also our mastering engineer, Maor [Appelbaum], he's helped to add his own kind of sonic fingerprint to the recordings. So I think production wise it's moved on and it's become a bit more of a bigger, bolder sound, but I think people can expect a similar kind of atmospheric driven songwriting that we tend to go for."
Building up to the release, singles '2003', 'Burnt', and 'Right Back' teased the cinematic atmosphere on show, alongside the title track that was released back in January. The end result sees a culmination of all of this, in what has become a staple of Lost Velvet's sound.
"I think anyone who's actually heard any of our singles will already get the gist that there's quite a bit of variety in what we're going to deliver," Melissa describes, "They're all complete songs, there's no filler or soundscapes just coming in and out. It's kind of like a variety of, I would say genres, kind of all mixing together and certain elements come out in certain tracks."
Visually, the album was brought to life by graphic designer and fine art photographer Natalia d'Ark. Melissa is quick to reassure that "no AI" was used in designing the cover. "We were like, 'we would like a couple of stars in the portal please', she's like 'that only took me five hours of painting', and we're like 'oh my gosh!'. We're massive fans of horror and David Lynch, we try to get a bit of a David Lynch feel to everything if we can."
On the album as a whole, Rob puts it: "We did hope in our minds that people would listen to the whole album. I know that's not typically how people listen to music nowadays, but it is designed to be listened to from start to finish. One of the reasons that was great to bring Michael Patterson in is because of his outside ears, he listened to all of the tracks and helped make sure they all lived in the same world."
Cautious of time, I ask the duo what they hope audiences take away from the album, and where it may lead next in the Lost Velvet journey.
"I'm just hoping that it makes a small vibration," Rob reflects,"And that it captures certain people's ears really. It would just be nice to have that feeling that the album is listened to, that there is some kind of reverberation in the pool that's made with the album.
"It's very easy now to feel completely lost in the wilderness when you're releasing anything or doing anything in music."
"ArcTangent," Melissa suggests, "Bucket list is definitely ArcTangent [Festival]."
Dark Cells is out NOW on all streaming platforms
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