The Lost Patrol – Songs About Running Away

The Lost Patrol is the side/solo project of Dennis Lyxzén, lead singer for The (International) Noise Conspiracy, created for one sole reason: to sings songs straight from the heart, songs that would never quite fit in a T(I)NC album. The acoustic based songs in Songs About Running Away may come as a little surprise for loyal T(I)NC fans. Hearing Dennis sing about broken hearts (There’s a hole in my heart when you’re not here/ Pick up the pieces everywhere/ Wish I could call but what would I say/ No simple way telling you to stay) and lost relationships backed up by a wide range of musical instruments is not something you’d expect from the political activist.

Dennis received a lot of support from his friends and bandmates as they all showed up during various times in the recording process, helping him out with anything they could. Members from Randy, The Facer,Bittersweet and The (International) Noise Conspiracy all make an appearance. Swedish pop-star Lisa Miskovsky also lends her talents in many of the songs especially in the vivid duet, Alright; a catchy, high energy, Grease-like song.

Musically, you never know what to expect from The Lost Patrol. Sure, it’s acoustic based, but that’s only one minuscule section of the songs. Organs, electric guitars, slide guitars, upright basses, percussion, pianos, saxophones, flutes and even the clarinet are all instruments found at one point or another in the album, making it so that you never know what to expect. It could be full of energy and excitement likeAlright or 200 Reasons Why, or more mellowed out and smooth like No New Manifesto and Left And Leaving Blues.

Songs About Running Away is definitely not for everyone, and takes a while to get into it. It’s an experimental album from Dennis Lyxzén and his friends and must be treated as such.