Tim Wheeler is known to most of us as the frontman of popular alt-rock band Ash, but he’s recently decided to take a step back from the band and try his hand at being a solo artist. His debut solo album, Lost Domain, recounts Wheeler’s experiences dealing with the decline and death of his father to Alzheimer’s Disease. Let’s be honest; albums don’t come much more personal than this.
Setting the tone for Lost Domain is opening track, ‘Snow in Nara‘. The haunting, cyclical guitar riff strikes a chord instantly, opening up the floor for some seriously bittersweet memories. There are moments of true sadness throughout this album; the pop-rock-orchestral sound of ‘Do You Ever Think of Me’- which is almost on par with The Verve’s 1997 heartbreak hit ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’- has some overwhelming moments of heartache, while ‘Vigil’ has an unmistakably poignant message- “You are not alone”- which hits hardest when it is sung for the first time almost a cappella but still continues to resonate long after the song is over. However, the album isn’t one of total dismay, with the pleasant melody of ‘End of an Era’, the stunningly beautiful rise-and-fall vocals of ‘First Sign of Spring’ and the unexpected dance beats of ‘Lost Domain’ giving off surprisingly uplifting vibes.
The most astonishing aspect of the whole album is how painfully personal it all is. It would be fair to assume that Lost Domain was written by Tim Wheeler as a message to himself and his family first, and a commercial record second. At no point is this more obvious than in ‘Hospital’, which describes Wheeler’s visits to his father with brutal honesty. Personal touches are also palpable with tracks such as ‘Medicine’, which actually features moments of his father playing piano on the track, and in the lyrics of neat acoustic track ‘Monsoon’- “Though I must go / I’m not sure why but I must make it on my own / All alone” are almost the words of a final goodbye, leaving the album with one last painful, personal flourish.
Lost Domain is both extremely beautiful and harrowingly ugly; both optimistically inspiring and distressingly mournful. Because it is such a raw, no-frills description lifted straight out of Wheeler’s life, this album is by no means an easy listen- but it is an important one.
