Review Summary: Lost in the music indeed.
Sometimes it’s the little things that turn a decent song into a great one. It can be something as seemingly inconsequential as a subtle guitar lick or a few unique vocal inflections. When I put on
Get Lost in the Music for the first time, the opening melodies of “Space Cowgirl” seemed pleasant enough, but nothing was overly gripping quite yet. That is, until the last minute; all of a sudden, an abrasive synthesizer lit up the sky with a sound that was equal parts wondrous and dissonant. That moment recontextualized the rest of the song, as the calming and ethereal guitar/keyboard combo that served most of the tune was merely buildup for the rug to be pulled out from under the listener. “Space Cowgirl” is but one facet of Ambar Lucid’s sound, however. The rest of
Get Lost in the Music is an intriguing blend of dream pop, R&B, alternative rock, dance-pop, and even some Latin pop, all within just five tracks. But the commonality between each song lies within the title - getting lost in the music. No matter which genre is explored, the ethereal atmosphere remains the record’s most alluring feature. Whether it be the sleepy twinkling synths and reverb-laden vocals of “Lizard”, the weird tempo shift that makes you feel as though you’re going in slo-mo at the end of “The Door”, or the cosmic keyboard parts that flutter and hover over the title track, the album is all about the vibe.
As I stated, there's quite a lot of variety for such a short tracklist. Even with this in mind, the biggest wildcard of the album would probably be "Un Animal", a Spanish-language song that plays into the Latin pop side of things. It's a pretty typical tune for the genre - dembow rhythm, vocal inflections and all - and doesn't play up the more otherworldly vibes like the other tracks, but it shakes things up decently and doesn't break the EP's flow. Plus, given Lucid's penchant for including Hispanic pride in her records, it makes sense to include a song like this. Finally, there’s the lyrical imagery of the album, which is quite befitting of the imagery created by the music. Admittedly some of it seems a bit nonsensical - particularly the fact that the title track is based around magic mushrooms and… uh, “taking a trip into the universe”? - but I can’t deny that it matches the spacy nature of the instrumentation. Lucid herself has explained in several interviews that the EP is meant as a collection of anthems designed to stamp out negativity and let the music itself be one’s refuge. That’s an admirable goal seeing as there’s been
plenty to be negative about in the last year or so, and the escapism provided by the tunes here is quite nice.
Get Lost in the Music isn’t exactly a groundbreaking listen, but it’s a comforting and highly enjoyable one. It’s nice to know that Ambar Lucid is still continuing with her atmospheric, dreamlike take on R&B-inflected pop music; it’s a cool niche, and a sound that can still be explored in so many ways. At the cost of only 18 minutes of your time, this little gem is well worth a listen.
