LORE—An EP Observation On Prologue: A Strong Introduction Into An Animated World

Review By Glen Parkes

LORE—An EP Observation On Prologue: A Strong Introduction Into Animated World

From time to time, a band appears that feels less like a first-time experience and more like a starting mythology. LORE’s first EP, Prologue, came out on October 3rd, and the disc already feels like a carefully constructed world—one made of incandescent amounts of anonymity, surrealism, and fierce intention. The pairing of Premiere with Crunchyroll is appropriate; it’s a milieu where animation, storytelling, and cult creativity overlap.

LORE was started this year by frontman Jay Christian and the reclusive persona going by the name the Frog. LORE is more than another internet project. The ethos has been made clear from the onset—remove the self, break down walls, and create something that appears authentic and grand at the same time. Prologue does precisely that: it is not simply a collection of songs; it’s an entrance into a growing narrative space where sounds and visuals are one.

Setting the Tone—”Senpai”

The initial single “Senpai” (also featuring Dwellings’ vocalist Isaac Wilson) sets the tone in a track that seems as playful as it is powerful. The opening track is a clear statement of intention, contrasting details in instrumentations against vocal that feels simultaneously

“Santa Cruz Blues”—Tones of the Ether

At just short of three minutes long, “Santa Cruz Blues” is economical in length but presents as fully realised. There’s something referential about the title, but it certainly defies convention in its delivery. It has a weird brightness to it—a song that has one foot in sadness and another in bright, happy-go-lucky—leaving you in this uncertain zone of wondering when you should be dancing and when you should be stuck in thought. It is moments like these where LORE’s avant-garde push defines itself.

“Starseeker”—Space You’re in Calibrating

With Josh Fraser on board, “Starseeker” is surely the most expansive moment of the EP. At just under three minutes, “Starseeker” still feels widescreen, with swirling layers and a general sense of searching ingrained into it. Again, it sort of pushes the project into collaboration land, but we think it opens a deeper conversation about the potential breadth of LORE. If “Senpai” felt direct, “Starseeker” radiates at the edges, reaching for the cosmic.

“”NightwhereClub”—Into the Surreal

If Prologue is a narrative, then “Nightwhere Club” is the moment the lights go out, and the marginal, surreal stuff creeps in. At just over two minutes, it is an immediate, quick-stepped descent into a murky pulsing with a spell. The track

“The final song on the EP, ‘Bolado’, ties all the threads together without overstaying its welcome. There is something pleasing about it feeling like a curtain call, an ending to the first act, and letting us know that there is still plenty more to come from LORE. LORE makes a clever decision to finish on something that is more mood- and rhythm-driven rather than heavy. This creates an open ending and leaves us wanting more instead of being overwhelmed.

The Long View

Prologue, which clocks in at only around twelve minutes across five tracks, is neither long enough to hold up as a document nor an act of demonstration—although it is indeed a demonstration of sorts, a mission brief: LORE’s world is only just beginning to emerge. LORE’s anonymity, the musicians behind it, and the online-born swath of musicianship—and yet these musicians do exactly as they please and do not fit any preconceived expectation—all make for a compelling thing. For example, rather than a band introducing themselves through alternative identified rock bands or identifiers, LORE bottom lines their invite to the listener to dive headlong into an ambivalent universe—and it feels worth our exploration.

LORE’s Prologue is precisely what its name implies – the beginning of a narrative. It’s quick, crisp, and packed with concepts, a collage of tonal shifts that oscillates between collaboration, mood, and surrealist pop sensibility. For something that only began this year, it already has the polish and swagger of something more expansive. If this is just the foreword, the action that continues promises to be even more exciting.

Highlights: Senpai, Starseeker, Nightwhere Club

For fans of: experimental pop, avant-garde rock, animated soundscapes