French quartet Lost in Kyiv return from a few years’ hiatus with a new drummer, a new spelling, and a harder, heavier sound. We’re All Going To Be Fine (Pelagic Records, 2026) sees the band shift from their electronic-infused post-rock towards something closer to post-metal, trading some of the electronics for a bit of heft.
The album opens with the short, atmospheric ‘Enlightened’, a scrap of spoken word setting the scene before it gives way to the riff-driven ‘Burst’. The guitars are densely layered, the lead carrying the melody over the top, and new drummer Jérémie Legrand immediately brings a groove and drive the band haven’t leaned on before. There’s a bright, hopeful feel to it, dynamic and open, the electronics pushed back in the mix to add colour and texture while the guitars do the heavy lifting.
‘Mantra’ opens on a thunderous riff, thick and dense, before dropping without warning into glitchy electronics and building slowly back towards a noisy crescendo. Just as things threaten to boil over, it retreats into something moodier and more atmospheric. It’s a clear statement that the band have refreshed their sound, familiar and different in the same breath. Their press notes talk of a long and exacting production, and that care comes through. ‘Eclipse’ follows the same patient logic, starting quietly with the lead guitar again carrying a positive, almost anthemic melody. It’s dense, there’s a lot going on, and it takes a couple of listens to properly land. This is that kind of album: it rewards patience and reveals more the more familiar it becomes.
‘Becoming’ is the outlier, built around the clean, breathy spoken word of guest Rebecca Need-Menear (Häxa & Anavae). Multi-tracked and ethereal, it’s dreamy and entirely apart from everything around it, a moment of stillness that also marks the record’s change in direction.
Because We’re All Going To Be Fine isn’t so much one coherent piece as a snapshot of a band caught between where they were and where they’re heading. The first two-thirds is the heavier post-metal material; the final third eases back towards the electronics, with the guitars stepping aside. ‘Euphoria’ is the most familiar-sounding track here for anyone who knows the band’s earlier work, opening on drums and electronics rather than a riff, brighter, upbeat and, well, euphoric. Closer ‘Liminality’ picks up the pace, a little more frantic, and its title feels apt: this is a record caught in the threshold.
And that’s the pleasure of it. We’re All Going To Be Fine is complex and dense, with plenty to discover across repeat listens. This is a band in transition rather than one that has arrived at its destination. But there’s something genuinely exciting about hearing Lost in Kyiv strike out for new pastures rather than settle into cookie-cutter post-rock.
