Lost in Kyiv aims to be optimistic.
Since their debut album was released fifteen years ago (under the name “Lost In Kiev,” which was recently changed following the conflict in Ukraine), the French band has been exploring the post-rock genre and its influences. In 2026, Jean-Christophe Condette (bass/keyboards), Dimitri Denat (guitar), Maxime Ingrand (guitar/keyboards/programming), and Jérémie Legrand (drums/programming) released their fifth album, We’re All Going to Be Fine, supported by Pelagic Records.
The album opens with the groovy and haunting Enlightened, a naturally infectious track that masterfully handles its crescendos, its more brutal bursts, as well as its much more accessible passages where the keyboards effortlessly soothe the atmosphere with dreamy touches. A sampled voice appears during the break, but the ensuing chaos is all the more intense, blending shrill and hazy harmonics with even more virulent patterns before everything fades away, offering a more solemn finale that leads into Burst, a very calm track that allows for a logical progression until it reaches its climax, which is also relatively soothing. Note a slightly more complex approach in the harmonics, but also in the orchestration, which carries the whole piece through the descent and on to Mantra, the next track, which in turn ignites and offers intoxicating accents to match its violence. The Trip-Hop-style electronic touches pull me slightly out of the vortex, but the dissonance reasserts itself, and since the track is shorter, it quickly sets the stage alight and keeps us on the edge of our seats until the much calmer finale, followed by Eclipse, which also gives us a moment of respite. A female voice emerges within this newfound tranquility, then electronic percussion paves our way toward an intoxicating post-rock foundation where all the elements blend skillfully to weave this cocoon of serenity, sometimes slightly disrupted by distortion, but always deeply enjoyable. Becoming takes over with a very different approach, still oscillating between organic and electronic tones, but with a palpable and infectious energy; and while the mix may seem unusual to the uninitiated ear, it’s truly effective, both in the aggressive passages and the more experimental sections. The track is very long, but its nine minutes allow for creative freedom, such as including a break where the female vocals return, heralding the imminent explosion of riffs, but also the descent into Euphoria, where the rhythm section builds very gradually, gradually revealing its brightest elements, which in turn intertwine only to eventually become corrupted and turn almost alarming, heavy, and oppressive, ultimately exploding. The minimalist finale is almost unsettling, leading into Liminality, which serves as an outro, where the band treats us to two more minutes of hazy sounds to gently guide us out of their world, forming an almost perfect loop with the first track.
Although its name has evolved slightly to reflect its values, Lost in Kyiv has remained the same, offering a dreamy, almost instrumental world that is as complex as it is captivating at every moment. It’s so easy to get lost in We’re All Going to Be Fine…
85/100
