It’s
not often that stoner metal is boundary-pushing, but Chris West is out to
change that. Recording under the name Lost Orb, he has pieced together a 17-minute odyssey
entitled “Low Ebb’s Lament” that has been several years in the
making and is a departure from the style of the bands he's usually associated
with (Stubb, Trippy
Wicked & the Cosmic Children of the Knight, Landskap).
The
track draws from a gamut of styles, ranging from Earth-esque graceful doom through stoner
rock to folksy strumming. It doesn’t end there - guests come in to broaden the
palette, such as the supremely talented Chantal Brown of Vodun, whose beautiful
wordless vocalizations soar over the riffs, and Tony Reed (Mos Generator) puts in
the right level of showmanship and class to round out the track.
Chris
says of the project
"Working
with Chan and Tony was a great experience. I had basic drum patterns written
out for the demo but I let Tony do his thing and let's just say the man
delivered. With Chan's vocal parts I had a few ideas written that I wanted to
include but we spent a day getting those and a lot of other ideas down on the
spot. I tend to obsess over perfecting ideas during the writing process with
many revisions and iterations so it was good to contrast that with a more
relaxed approach to the vocals.
I
originally wrote Low Ebb's Lament towards the end of 2012 and it was based on
some themes and ideas I had been developing for a long while before then. I
didn't realise what was happening at the time but it was a last burst of
creative energy as I embarked on a steady descent into some significant mental
health issues. It took me until 2013 to record the music and while I eventually
put it on Bandcamp the year after that, I had little energy to promote
it.
A
lot of personal work, some essential help and a little luck has led me to where
I am now. It was hugely important at the time of writing to be able to present
the ideas I had been working on in one cohesive movement and I'm grateful to be
in a position to give the music a proper release now."
