Influences
Those goth metal power ballads of the 2000s
I’ll say Andrea Parker, even though I can’t think of anything in particular, but this 100% feels like something that could have been on Kiss My Arp
BT in general (it’s one of his Splice kicks and snares in there, and he absolutely would build a song out of elevator)
Probably some artists who cite Some Great Reward-era Depeche Mode
Story
If you look at my 1992 best-of-year playlist, you’ll find “Dead Language” by Love Spirals Downwards. I’d heard of the group but hadn’t investigated them until researching these lists.
Having bought that song off Bandcamp put me on the follow list for when the Lovespirals evolution of the band hosted a listening party for the 25th-anniversary remaster of the Flux album, which combined the gothy folk textures of the early material with drum and bass. If I’d known about this album back in 1998, it would have blown the mind right out of me. (And I’ve put “Psyche” in the 1998 best-of-year list.)
I hadn’t heard of this new Bandcamp listening party thing, so I went. And the Lovespirals duo – Anji Bee and Ryan Lum – were so welcoming to me, who’d barely heard of anything happening here, and I had an amazing time. Part of that amazing time came from one of my beloved topics – mp3.com – arising without me introducing it. (That happens all of never.) And Anji offered to sell me her original mp3.com messenger bag, right there during the party. Of course I was in – I’ve got the MusicMatch Jukebox backpack to coordinate with it, for crying out loud.
Amid bag purchase talks, I checked out more Lovespirals and Anji music, and…well now, hang on. There were as many genres spread through the oeuvre as I liked to put in my own music (and a lot of the same ones, for that matter). There’s a lot of love of dark textures…
So I asked about a possible collaboration, and after a couple months we figured something out. I thought it would sound good to take that double-kick-tap sound of stuff like Epica (specifically “Feint” and the triplet-piano intro to “Sensorium,” though I hadn’t listened to them for a decade and probably combined them in my head) and ’80sify it for me and Anji – it would enable something pretty sweeping from a different angle for both of us while allowing her cooler, jazzy textures to take center stage. Swap out churning electric guitars, swap in Yamaha DX piano…you get where I was going.
I was making this in its ballad tempo and in its ballad ways, and then I noticed, almost like how kid protagonists in math problems conveniently notice things, that it matched up nicely with the rhythms of a creepy hotel elevator I and my wife sampled in November 2022 in hopes of building a song around it. (Here’s me in that elevator back when I sampled it – turn the sound on: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkmZnf1OO4o/ Five stars to the Federal Way, Washington Quality Inn and Suites for not scheduling routine exorcism maintenance.) I barely had to change anything – slightly stretch and pitch-shift about a half-step – and it fit right into what I was making. Pads with natural door slam rhythms, even snares – it was all available without trying too hard. Foley madness was afoot, and I rebuilt around the elevator layers to give Anji a canvas.
Like all the best collaborations, Anji surprised me, choosing the more packed melodic areas to craft a narrative in. I rearranged around that, meaning what was initially written as a lead-in to her part became the exit out of her part. I loved how all her changes made this guest spot – which on a lot of electronic albums is the stab at crossover stardom for producers who otherwise struggle with memorable tracks – the artiest, most gnarled thing on the record.
And Anji turned in such an inspired performance. Why does she drop down to super-low spoken word and then come back up to sing “I’m lost” serenely as 30 seconds of nothing but elevator horror builds up around her? In a catalog built around a USP of mysterious+fun, this is 100% shudder-down-spine stuff, especially as the only voice you hear over a 12-minute stretch of album. (There’s a slight crackle that builds in the song’s final few seconds that’s a bit of processed noise out of her vocal take as well.)
Lyrics (by Anji Bee)
Lost inside my mind
So lost within this time
Don’t know who I am
Or where I’m going to
Lost and I’m not fine
No reason and no rhyme
This life doesn’t make sense
What am I going to do
These past few years have been so hard
Trapped within these walls and my small yard
I’ve dropped out of society
I don’t think I’ll ever be
Who I was before I went on guard
I’m lost
I’m lost
I’m lost
Some press about it
“A hypnotic journey, with a non-commercial formula, Lost Within This Time takes us in and keeps us there.” – Sound Read Six
“Restless Mosaic’s Lost Within This Time, is a chilling blend of experimental soundscapes and ghostly storytelling. Featuring Anji Bee’s eerie vocals and a lyrical narrative steeped in isolation and disconnection, the track unfolds like a sonic ghost story. Built around otherworldly elevator samples and layered with unsettling synth textures, the song flawlessly transitions between moments of frenetic energy and brooding stillness.” – musicngear.com
“When Anji Bee’s ethereal voice appears, the track takes on a dream-pop character, with her performance colored by a dark, romantic desire that repeats the lyrical ideas of isolation and confusion….Restless Mosaic’s music production wonderfully fits the subject matter, combining dark, cinematic elements with an ever-changing electronic soundscape. The end effect is a music that feels like traveling through a dream—beautiful but unpleasant, private but unresolved.” – skylight.gr
“Together with the synths, Anji Bee’s vocal performance is a highlight. She brings a ghostly quality to the song, her voice floats above the mechanical and percussive elements, acting as both a guide and a prisoner within the track’s labyrinth. The production is meticulous, with every sonic element carefully placed to maximize disorientation and emotional weight….“Lost Within This Time” is not an easy listen, nor is it meant to be. It’s a song that demands attention, absorbing the listener into its layered and enigmatic depths.” – Dimitris Zacharopoulos, Myth of Rock
“Lost Within This Time features Anji Bee of dreampop duo LOVESPIRALS, and a voice best described as sunlight within the electronic buzz and fizz of the song. Around her Isleib weaves intrigue lined webs and electronic curiosities that all add to the compelling atypical beauty of the song.
From start to finish Lost Within This Time is a maze of dark intimation and rare enterprise that in itself is pure magnetism with an adventure that the imagination could not resist just as ears hugged the lure of Bee’s spellbound light.” – Ringmaster Review
Close out side 1 with My Spare Keys
restlessmosaic.com 