by Teoh Jae Mie
A homegrown Malaysian band called lost spaces released their new EP entitled digital-paranoia on the 12th of June, shortly after CMCO was lifted and replaced by RMCO. As is with all EPs, digital-paranoia has a low number of 4 songs with a little less than 4 minutes each.
This marks the release of their second project after the successful debut of no-vacancy in 2018. Their fame sky-rocketed almost instantly as they aptly introduced fellow Malaysians to fake.guitars just two days after the nerve-racking GE14 that year.
Diving deep into the sound of lost spaces and their new EP, it is clear that they have stuck to their millennial take on an otherwise psychedelic 80’s synth that can be found in no-vacancy. They’ve revealed that their sound is heavily influenced by artists like Tame Impala, The 1975, and Two Door Cinema Club.
There is not much of a way to be able to pinpoint exactly what the sound of lost spaces is, but one will make absolutely no mistake of being able to tell that it’s them. Their songs would get your feet tapping and your body moving in no time despite the clear mix of multiple styles and genres in both albums.
Providing us with more fresh tunes, digital-paranoia talks about mental health and looking into your own thoughts. Fair warning: don’t let their upbeat compositions fool you – their lyrics often say otherwise. The multiple layers presented to listeners provide contrast and allows for interpretations of your own. This EP does just that and we can all either bop our heads to the catchy beats or dive into the lyrics and what they actually mean.
My personal favourites from digital-paranoia have to be the first two songs – purple.laces and inter.vision – just because windows.95 is a little too mellow for me. I can’t explain why the last song n.ie (next item exchange) doesn’t top the charts in my opinion, albeit having an equally upbeat tune as the first two. It’s good, but not great. To be honest, I like no-vacancy better than digital-paranoia, but to each their own. I’d give it a rating of 4/5; you definitely need to check them out!
To personally know Samuel Lopez, the brains behind the birth and music of lost spaces, you might think that I would be biased throughout this review. However, I am pretty picky and honest with myself about music.
The release of no-vacancy got me feeling nervous because I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, but once I played it I really had nothing to worry about. The whole album was so well-curated and sounded like they’ve been in the industry for years.
Having said that, I was beyond excited for the release of digital-paranoia. Plus, it’s a Malaysian band! The Malaysian music scene has been amazing these past few years and I definitely think that they need more stream time on our radio stations because they very well deserve the recognition and appreciation.
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