After much anticipation, electro sibling duo Lastlings has finally released their debut album: First Contact. The Japanese-Australian duo draws inspiration from their collaborative work with RÜFÜS DU SOL, their life experiences, and their heritage. The new album features 12 tracks.
Lastlings announced the release of First Contact back in September. An album trailer accompanied the highly-awaited release, giving us all a glimpse of what to expect. Moreover, the trailer featured heavy film influences and Japanese a voice narration. It touches on topics that are in the album – these include the duality of humanity and first experiences.
In a press release, they note:
First Contact is all the moments we experience for the first time, how special they are and how important they are in shaping us as people. It is about those beautiful moments when we feel love for the first time, a child taking its first steps or travelling to a new destination. It’s also about the somber moments in our life where we have lost something or someone for the first time and how we grow and change from these. We hope that this album sparks all the beautiful and important memories, feelings and emotions that you felt when you experienced something for the first time.
The album features a dark and melancholic electro sound. Moreover, it discusses first experiences, but highlights how fleeting and irreplaceable they can be. They start off the album with ‘Deja Vu’ and ‘Take My Hand’ which feature soft, almost angelic vocals juxtaposed by a gloomier sound.
The first two songs set us up for sadness, but ‘Out of Touch’ and ‘No Time’ prove us wrong with a faster-paced and more hopeful ambiance. Additionally, a refreshing RÜFÜS DU SOL infused sound emerges in ‘False Reactions’ and ‘I’ve Got You’.
I first discovered Lastlings with ‘Take My Hand’. It’s the perfect track to drive to late at night when I need to reflect on life or collect my thoughts. It’s exciting to not only see this track on the album, but also to see that their brilliant and unique sound that manages to be filled with sorrow and hope is further refined in First Contact.
You can listen to First Contact below.
