Irish quartet Gather The Lost have crafted a diverse and captivating rock sound that’s as haunting as it is powerful, and they describe as “raw, gritty and atmospheric.”
The Dublin band started out in 2019, when vocalist Carolyn Dunne was looking for a rock band that would be open to going with the flow and merging other genres. She struggled to find anything that met that criteria so, the following year, she started auditioning musicians and eventually discovered Alan Franklin (Brazil) on guitar, Brian Dunne (Dundalk/Carlow) on bass and Ronan Sherlock (Dublin) on drums.
In Carolyn’s words: “We have managed to create a distinct sound that is exactly what I hoped for – a sound that could be haunting and atmospheric, yet powerful and gritty. The lads are fantastic musicians, and we are really proud of our music. I love the idea of being able to just write music you love, not worrying about whether it’s too gentle or too heavy, just authentic creation.
“The base of our sound is always rock, but each song will bring forward an element of something else also. Maybe it’s metal, funk, or even a rock ballad, but always with catchy riffs and big vocals. Lyrically, it is a blend of metaphoric and honest storytelling.”
Our latest taste of this is Delusional, which was released last month. It opens up with an echoey guitar lick that continues as drums kick in under Carolyn’s dramatic vocals. The pace slows in a laid-back, engaging verse, before heavier guitars enter and tee up a chorus led by the delicious vocals: “Maybe I’m delusional, To want to see things beautiful, To want to heal the hurt, Take the pain away, Maybe I’m the fucked up one, To believe after all that’s done, Tomorrow brings more chances, Hope makes us all stay.”
Elaborate repeats of “stay” give way to a funky noodling guitar lick, which loops into another mellow verse that builds into a chorus. The “stay” repeats blend into a big guitar solo, which picks the pace up a notch and drops into a heavy outro led by chunky guitars.
On the track, Carolyn said: “It’s been out for maybe 10 hours only (as I write this), but we’ve already got some fantastic feedback. There have been a lot of pre-release radio plays globally, and then today being release day, the phones are hopping! There is definitely a bit of a buzz about this release, which is exciting and great to see.
“Our last song, Never Home was a rock ballad and got picked up by national radio as Grassroots Track of the Weeks with RTE 2 fm. This next song is much heavier and for fans of that bigger rock sound. Delusional is the brutally honest anthem for anyone who has been reshaped by trauma yet chooses to fight for a beautiful future.”
As Carolyn mentions, that follows on from the far more laid-back and deliciously mellow single Never Home. Prior to that, they released the excellent debut single Alone in 2022 and backed it up with the delightful Shivers the following year.
And those tracks are building up to Gather The Lost’s debut album, which should be out in April. “As a band, it is our first album, so it’s a huge deal,” Carolyn told us. “We’ve been working on it for so long now that it will be surreal to finally have it out in the world. A lot of time and effort has gone into it, a labour of love for us all.
“The album will be a rollercoaster, with topics like mental health being a big factor. Sound-wise, there will be something that appeals to everyone. We have also revisited some of our previous releases and re-recorded them. These new versions are far bigger and better now, it will be exciting to see the reaction of those who are familiar with our earlier music. That’s all I can say about the album for now.”
The Gather The Lost sound is shaped by the band members’ very different musical tastes. And on what inspires them to write music, Carolyn explains: “Life! That’s it really, at least for me, writing vocal melodies, lyrics and song concepts. I think all of us love music because it’s an outlet. Feeling stressed? Grab your guitar or let out your anger on the drums. Music is a safe space for us, no matter what is happening, music is always there. Life is probably the ONLY real influence we have that guides us to create music, and the themes that I write about lyrically are always in relation to true events.”
Gather The Lost will be releasing their debut album in the next few months, ahead of which they’ll be releasing one more single next month. They’ll also be busy with gigs, including at HMV Belfast (all ages) during the day on 31 January, before playing at the Oh Yeah Centre (age 14+) later that evening.
And Carolyn added: “There aren’t enough gigs out there that are open age-wise for teenagers to attend, which is madness! Music meant the most to us when we were teenagers, so why there aren’t more events like that, I don’t know. The evening gig is a showcase gig that is being run by our management, so it will be a great night with lots of talented bands also.”
You can follow Gather The Lost on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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