In 2017, Simon Raymonde and Richie Thomas had both abstained from making music for 20 years until they united as Lost Horizons and released a stunning debut album, Ojalá - the Spanish word for “hopefully” or “God willing.”

“These days, we need hope more than ever, for a better world.” Thomas said at the time. “And this album has given me a lot of hope. To reconnect with music.... And the hope for another Lost Horizons record!”

Thomas’ hopes had a mixed response. On the plus side, the new Lost Horizons album In Quiet Moments is an even stronger successor to Ojalá with another distinguished cast of guest singers and a handful of supporting instrumentalists embellishing the core duo’s gorgeously free-flowing and loose-limbed blueprint that one writer astutely labelled, “melancholy-delia.”

On the minus side, any hope for a better world, as Earth continues to freefall toward political and social meltdown. Then, to make matters worse, as Raymonde and Thomas buckled down to create the improvised bedrock that Lost Horizons is built on, the former’s mother died. At least Raymonde had a way to channel his grief. “The way improvisation works,” he says, “it’s just what’s going on with your body at the time, to let it out.”

Raymonde (bass, guitar, keyboards, production) and Thomas (drums, occasional keys and guitar) forged ahead, creating 16 instrumental tracks to send to prospective guests. When he did, Raymonde suggested a guiding theme for their lyrics: “Death and rebirth. Of loved ones, of ideals, at an age when many artists that have inspired us are also dead, and the planet isn’t far behind. But I also said, ‘The most important part is to just do your own thing, and have fun.”

And then Covid-19 hit. Half of In Quiet Moments’ lyrics were written after lockdown, but Raymonde saw a silver lining: people were slowing down and taking stock of their lives. Hearing a lyric written by veteran singer Ural Thomas, known as “Portland's Pillar of Soul", who fronts the title track, Raymonde singled out the phrase “in quiet moments” and made it the album title. “It just made sense,” he says. “This moment of contemplation in life is really beautiful. The title also went with the album cover, a photograph by Jacques-Henri Lartigue from the 1940s of a woman and dog on a beach, captured as if in flight.” 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There are a frankly dazzling array of guests on this beautiful collection of slow-motion psychedelic drifts from Raymonde & Thomas, and each one seem to effortlessly glide into the instrumental core of ambient swells and subtle strings. A perfect tonic to the strains of a day.

TRACK LISTING

1. Halcyon - Lost Horizons Feat. Jack Wolter
2. I Woke Up With An Open Heart - Lost Horizons. Feat. The Hempolics
3. Grey Tower - Lost Horizons Feat. Tim Smith
4. Linger - Lost Horizons Feat. Gemma Dunleavy
5. One For Regret - Lost Horizons Feat. Porridge Radio
6. Every Beat That Passed - Lost Horizons Feat. Kavi Kwai
7. Nobody Knows My Name - Lost Horizons Feat. Cameron Neal
8. Cordelia - Lost Horizons Feat. John Grant
9. In Quiet Moments - Lost Horizons Feat. Ural Thomas
10. Circle - Lost Horizons Feat. C Duncan
11. Unravelling In Slow Motion - Lost Horizons Feat. Ren Harvieu
12. Blue Soul - Lost Horizons Feat. Laura Groves
13. Flutter - Lost Horizons Feat. Rosie Blair
14. Marie - Lost Horizons Feat. Marissa Nadler
15. Heart Of A Hummingbird - Lost Horizons Feat. Lily Wolter
16. This Is The Weather - Lost Horizons Feat. Karen Peris

Currently celebrating 20 years piloting his revered record label Bella Union, Simon Raymonde has scaled another personal peak, a new collaboration with drummer Richie Thomas.

They’re called Lost Horizons, and their stunning debut album, ‘Ojalá’, released via Bella Union, is a rare sighting of two gifted musicians who, for different reasons, have been largely absent from music-making for the last 20 years. Yet the record is proof of a telepathic relationship through music, established when the pair first became collaborators and friends in the eighties.

‘Ojalá’ also incorporates a heady cast of guest singers. Some are signed to Bella Union, such as Marissa Nadler, former Midlake frontman Tim Smith, Cameron Neal (Horse Thief), others are long-time favourites of Raymonde’s (Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit and Ghostpoet), or newer discoveries (Beth Cannon, Hilang Child, Gemma Dunleavy and Phil McDonnell). And then there is the incomparable Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission, one of Raymonde’s most beloved artists, in her first collaboration outside of The Innocence Mission and solo recordings.

Together, the Lost Horizons ensemble has created an hour of exquisite, expansive and diverse spellcasting, from facets of soul (‘Bones’, featuring Cannon, and ‘Reckless’, featuring Ghostpoet) to dreamier invocations like ‘She Led Me Away’ (featuring Smith) and ‘Ojalá’s lengthiest trip, ‘The Engine’ (featuring Hilang Child). There’s the odd louder, faster detour, like ‘Life Inside A Paradox’ (featuring Neal, with Sharon Van Etten on backing vocals), but the dominant mood is a deep, rich melancholia.

TRACK LISTING

Bones
The Places We’ve Been
Amber Sky
Asphyxia
Reckless
She Led Me Away
Frenzy, Fear
The Tide
I Saw The Days Go By
Give Your Heart Away
Score The Sky
Life Inside A Paradox
The Engine
Winter’s Approaching
Stampede