French post-metal quartet Lost in Kyiv are set to release their new album entitled We’re All Going To Be Fine on June 19th. Lost In Kyiv’s guitarist Dimitri Denat spoke with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, featuring Rebecca Need-Menear of I Haxa as a guest, changing the spelling of the band’s name, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Lost in Kyiv are set to release a new album titled We’re All Going To Be Fine on June 19th. What can you tell bands about the upcoming release?
Denat: It’s the heaviest and most violent album we have ever released. However, we’ve always kept a melodic edge and worked on the atmospheres so that the tracks flow seamlessly as a single block, allowing for a natural, continuous listening experience.
MER: How was the writing and recording process, being your fifth album?
Denat: This is our first album with Jérémie on drums. Jérémie is based in Toulouse, and the rest of the band is in Paris. First, we had to find our chemistry with Jérémie to see what came out naturally when playing new songs together. We also had to deal with the distance between us. Much like during COVID, we did a lot of demoing and jamming via file sharing from our home studios, with everyone adding their own building blocks. After that, we would meet up in a studio for a few days to see how we could transform that synthetic, home-studio material into real live tracks. The process took time, but now we know how to play together, and that will be constructive for the future.
MER: How was it bringing in Rebecca Need-Menear of I Haxa to guest on the song ‘Becoming’?
Denat: We’ve always loved doing collaborations, and we hadn’t had the chance to work with a female voice yet. We discovered Rebecca through the label’s releases and fell in love with her spellbinding world – not just for I HAXA, but also for her other projects and her personality when we got in touch with her. She truly knew how to transform this track and take it so much further.
MER: How did it come about recently changing the spelling to your band’s name?
Denat: We wanted to mark the change in lineup and new artistic direction with the arrival of Jérémie on drums. It’s a subject we’ve been reflecting on for a few years now – sadly, even more so since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Changing our name is also a way of taking a stand in this conflict, even though the band’s name had absolutely nothing to do with it originally.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and the rest of Lost In Kyiv after the album is released?
Denat: The plan is to take the project to the next level, play great stages, and connect even more and better with the audience. Having one of our tracks featured as the theme for a series or a video game that’s actually worth it would also be incredible
MER: Is there anyone you hope to tour with and why?
Denat: I would love to have the opportunity to tour with Russian Circles; that way, we’d have the Russians and the Ukrainians in harmony on a great concert bill. That trio is incredible, and on a human level, the guys seem really nice.
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live that you haven’t yet and why?
Denat: I’d say the Olympia in Paris, because it’s been a running joke in the band ever since that day, a long time ago, when someone yanked out a jack cable way too fast. The venue’s sound engineer looked at us and said, “You guys will never play the Olympia.” So yeah… playing there would be a pretty satisfying little “screw you” to that prophecy.
MER: How would you describe the music scene in France?
Denat: The French scene is incredible; there are so many projects to discover. Unfortunately, as is the case in many other countries, funding for culture is steadily declining. It’s becoming harder and harder for ‘mid-tier’ bands like us to tour and make a living from our music. People also prefer to spend a lot of money to see a massive headliner here and there – going to Hellfest, for instance, even if it means going too far fewer gigs the rest of the year. I get the feeling that the gap between mainstream giants and underground bands is widening by the day.
MER: Out of Lost in Kyiv’s five albums, what is one you would suggest to a new fan and why?
Denat: I’d recommend We Are All Going To Be Fine because we’ve taken a turning point since that album, so if we want new fans to stick with us, they might as well dive straight into the deep end. I’m also saying that, above all, because it’s my favorite album to date.
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