In The Lost Boys’ latest single, Anchor, Lucy Kruger, in soft staccato, blends the mnemonic features of childhood song with yearning. Though the scaffolding of the track is a cleverly co-opted nostalgia, it is lifted free from a saccharine past by the exhaling viola, short searing guitar and Kruger’s specific and startling enunciation. The accompanying visual of Kruger (un)devouring a pale white rose – by DTAN, the band’s long-time collaborators – offers a symbol of undoing. Yet, rather than the personal violence of purging, we witness a tender reassembly of the discarded, outside the perimeter of the body – to care for what is excised is to care for the site of excision.

“Anchor speaks to the eternal frustration of wanting to be both moored and meandering — to be known, yet able to create yourself anew. Can you sail into the unknown and still remain safe? Probably not. The song longs for home, but also for a love like the one you might feel before the imagined fall from grace that comes with leaving childhood. For somebody to say ‘it’s all going to be okay’, and to believe them.” - Lucy Kruger

Unlike the Lost Boys’ earlier albums, produced within a specific moment in time, Pale Bloom emerged slowly, trying to suspend a creation myth in its amber – an origin tale that is ancient and complex; full of mystery and metaphor – that seeks neither clarification nor end.

Each Lost Boys' release ventures into new musical and lyrical territory. Of them all, Pale Bloom reaches furthest back into childhood, unconsciously locating the rhythms and narrative styles rooted in the strictures of a religious upbringing. Sorting through the forgotten chords, refrains and melodies from old nursery rhymes and folk songs, they found a desire to bend these inherited sounds toward more personal truths.

This impulse is present throughout the album, audible in Kruger’s equally sonorous and euphoric voice, as she wraps the various lyrical forms around her own longing, mourning and desire, preparing them to land within the band's lush and generous subversion of the remembered rhythms.

Unlike their appearance on Heaving and A Human Home, the strings here are less affected, having taken on a more sombre and serious character. They stretch towards a complex kind of heaven, made possible by the weight and grounding of the grooves, which are both stoic and expressive. The guitars roam freely in between stretching, voluminous spaces and are as grinding as they are gentle. The players on the record are Lucy Kruger (voice and guitar), Liú Mottes (guitar), Jean-Louise Parker (viola), Gidon Carmel (drums) and Reuben Kemp (bass).

Kruger recorded the album with her bandmates and close collaborator, André Leo, split across their various studios in Berlin, over the course of six months. The album was mixed by Simon Ratcliffe.

Pale Bloom will be out through Unique Records in February 2026.

“A perfect storm of posturing gothic art pop with a grungy, low-tempo backbone, spellbindingly dark and angsty, and flecked with violin lines that lent the songs a satisfyingly Venus In Furs-esque eeriness.”

CLASH

“South African-born Kruger is the real deal, with enough attitude and drama for a few bands... She possesses a death stare that looks both through you and into your soul at the same time.”

BROOKLYN VEGAN

"An intense, sonically charged atmosphere fueled by noise-infused rock, ambient pop and playful experimentation makes Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys ever so addictive. Whether you ache for tender, finger-picked confessions or long for the release of gritty, guitar catharsis, the Berlin-based outfit offers a cure."

ATWOOD MAGAZINE

Your support makes stories like this possible!

Underground Press relies entirely on your generosity, enabling us to report on the entertainment industry, free of charge and independently. Your contribution ensures millions worldwide can continue to visit our site for amazing content from around the web.
*Currency in South African Rands (ZAR)