Lost World Band - 2024 - The Dawn

(36:26; Lost World Band)

All the way back in 1990, three music students met, Andy Didorenko, Vassili Soloviev and Aleksandr Akimov, and they decided to form a band together which soon gained the name Lost World. As with many groups they wrote and recorded music, releasing them on cassette, and it was only in 2003 that their debut CD was released, ‘Trajectories’, which is where I came across them for the first time. However, in 1996 they released a trilogy of cassettes which were only known to a few, and they have now decided the time is right to re-record them and make them available for the modern fans of LWB (they added the word ‘Band’ in time for their third CD, 2009’s ‘Sound Source’).

The first thing one must remember is that although these are old songs, these are brand new recordings plus they now have more than 30 years of experience behind them, so I am sure these are very different indeed to the originals. Here Vassili Soloviev (flute), Andy Didorenko (violin, guitar, bass, backing vocals, percussion) and Alexander Akimov (keyboards) have been joined by Brian Paley (vocals), three drummers sharing the load (Francesca Pratt, Glenn Welman, Jordan McQueen) plus trumpeter Kelly O and saxophonist Manuel Trabucco. Also, Lost World are conservatory-trained musicians, which means they approach music in a quite different manner to many (strangely enough, Mr So & So came from a very similar background, with that quartet also meeting at music college). However, they also have a very Western approach to their music, which means it is highly melodic and commercial with very little Eastern European influences.  Andy is unusual in his mastery of different instruments, so while he may be providing flying violin here, it may be rippling bass there or shredding elsewhere.

The first song after the introduction is the wonderful “So Close To Sunlight”, which is one of the vocal tracks (many are instrumental), where Brian Paley really shines and every time I listen to this I think of Disney, not something I normally associate with progressive music yet it definitely feels like it comes from a soundtrack. After this we get the workout which is “Cogs of Memory” where Andy and Alexander provide wonderful interplay before it moves more into a piano piece. One of the joys of this release is one truly never knows what is going to happen next, as each song can be dramatically different to the others yet is still very much related. One can only smile when listening to “The Flight of the Metal Bumblebee” as while obviously inspired by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” it is very different indeed. Apart from the flute, which has been retained from the original release, all these tracks have been totally re-recorded and brought right up to date. It certainly never seems as if the material stretches back to the Eighties in some instances as it feels modern and fresh and is a wonderful mix of the old and the new. 

Kev Rowland, May 2026

Links:
https://www.lostworldband.com/