RPG – Me Lost Me (reviewed by T. Bebedor)

Me Lost Me is the brainchild and stage name for Jayne Dent, a self-described folk artist and composer who drifts in and out of pigeonholes and makes music that is futuristic, engaging and, that most elusive of ingredients, interesting.

This music, to me, is alchemy, it’s laboratory-based and magical. It’s as if the musician has a list of ingredients in their heads and selects different sounds for different effects. I know, lets start with electronic sampling, add some strings, some Asian-sounding wind chimes, throw in some percussive work and top it all with some angelic vocals, some bird song (check out ‘Heat!’ where the birdsong becomes looped… mind boggling) sprinkle some drama and bang, we’ve got a track my friend!

I don’t have a clue how this music comes about, it’s otherworldly and tribal, way beyond my understanding on creating a melody, adding some chords and seeing if you can come up with some trendy lyrics. That method seems clunky and prehistoric compared to what is on offer here. I hear influences of Kate Bush and Bjork here (particularly in the Nordic sounding ‘Mirie it is While Summer I Last’) , both artists trend setters and way before their time, and this is exactly what Me Lost Me is, it’s the music of ten years’ time, it’s tomorrow music but still has the artistry to be relevant today.

I know this is high praise and maybe I sound like I’ve put too many sweeteners in my PG Tips this morning but it’s not often that an album opens my ears so immediately and makes me stop what I’m doing to do that old fashioned thing of listening.

The album is surrounded by nature, there are wide spaces and guttural sounds of beast and birds but then there are dark and haunting sounds, like the opening moments of ‘Side Quest’ before it moves into a jerking computer game nightmare of slipping down and down into oblivion. Powerful and disturbing. Think Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ static-fuelled soundscape. It’s followed by the acapella ‘The Oldest Tree Holds The Earth’, again impressive and holds your attention fully, it’s folk but turned up a notch, daring to question what it means to create music that is classified as folk nowadays. I know we’re a long way from wool jumpers and corduroy trousers where a pair of brown shoes would be joined by a pint of bitter, but this is so much more and deserves to be heard and appreciated.

Obviously, there are some that will scoff at the thought of folk being produced with electronic samples and loops but the layers on offer here will take countless listens to unravel the layers and everything fits together so nicely. I’m on my third listen and each time I’m treated to some new nuance or sound that I didn’t hear before. Honestly, this is brilliant.