The Lost Messiahs have announced that they will release their third studio album Connected to the Real early 2023. 

The band  will release a new single ahead of the album launch entitled ‘ Brownsfield’ March 2023. The single was produced in Golden Egg Studios by Ollie Plunkett, has been mixed by multi- award winning producer Chris O’ Brien, and mastered by Greb Calbi, Sterling Sound ,New York. The song has been going down really well at their live shows and was the highlight at their packed gig in the Mindfield Arena,  Electric Picnic in 2022. The band have already released two critically acclaimed singles from the new album’ Place in my Heart’ and Searching in Mirrors’. 

There has always been a mystical spiritual connection in The Lost Messiahs music. On the first album they collaborated with the monks from Glenstall Abbey on their beautiful track Soulstar. They followed that album with Deconstruction of the Mind , an album  laden with songs that beautifully explore the inner workings of the mind in search for new meaning ,new direction. The production is rich laden with fat immersive synths and atmospheric guitars. Bands like Mercury Rev , Spiritualised, The National, War on Drugs have always inspired the band  with their similar rich atmospheric landscapes . 

The band  have received excellent reviews to date  including a write up in the Sunday Independent by Barry Egan- 'The Lost Messiahs have a distinct sound with echoes of Mercury Rev and The National’ . Their music has  been played by Dave Fanning, Dan Hegarty and John Creedon, RTE; has been playlisted by Radio Nova and many regional stations; and selected as song of the week on Joe.ie. 

The band was formed by songwriter and guitar player Ollie Plunkett. Ollie has always written and played original music and has played in festivals and venues all over Ireland. The other members of the band share the passion for playing original music and all share an ambition to get the music out to a wider audience. The band have released two critically acclaimed studio albums to date ‘Soulstar’ and ‘Deconstruction of the Mind’ and are about to release their third studio album ‘ Connected to the Real’. 

The Lost Messiahs toured extensively in 2022 playing at some cool venues including  Cleere’s Theatre Kilkenny, Crane Lane Theatre Cork , Midlands Prison Portlaoise and to a  packed headlining gig in the Mindfield Arena, Electric Picnic, Friday 2nd September. They have always remained independent  and like to pursue the road less travelled. As a response to the absence of gigs during COVID ,the band organised  their own gigs at really cool venues including the Malthouse Stradbally , Ballykilcavan Brewery, Timahoe Round Tower Heritage Centre and Hook Head Lighthouse in Wexford. They have recently performed to prisoners in Midlands Prison Portlaoise. The band are already confirmed to play two of Ireland’s biggest festivals this year, Forest Fest and Electric Picnic.

The Lost Messiahs are made up of experienced musicians who all have a rich musical pedigree in their own right. 

Eamonn Duff  - Bass 

James O’ Connor - Vocals/Acoustic Guitar, 

Ollie Plunkett  - Electric Guitar, 

Martha Cummins - Drums

The spiritual journey of self - discovery and search for enlightenment transfiguration continues on Connected to the Real with a continued restlessness and forward motion and momentum although perhaps a little more reflective than Deconstruction of the Mind. There is a sense of the past problems disappearing in the rear view mirror while the uncertainty of the future is wrestled with . The recent death of a loved one permeates the album and the difficult letting go process weaves its way into many songs. Themes of social injustice , discrimination, societal cynicism and loneliness also feature in the lyrical content.

John Creedon, RTE1 –“the band always produce very interesting music, there are four or five tracks on their album Deconstruction of the Mind that really jump out at me and I love the final track on the album ‘Waiting on Reuben”. 

Barry Egan Sunday Independent-The Lost Messiahs have a distinct sound with echoes of  Mercury Rev and The National. 

Dan Hegarty 2Fm - I really like their single ‘Lights Out ‘ from their album Deconstruction of the Mind. 

Headphonik- Quite frankly I found the vocals by James O’Connor on The Lost Messiahs’ new single Place in my Heart mesmerising and the backing vocals parts make you want to sing along. 

IMRO- Their well -crafted songs are delivered with a rich shimmering sonic palette of atmospheric guitars , driving percussion and hypnotic synths 

Broken8Records- The Lost Messiahs might not be one of the most well-known bands but they’re certainly one of the most exciting. Their new single ‘Place in my Heart’ is the sound of a band on the rise. 

The Drill – Having listed to their single Deconstruction of the Mind we were awed by their quite distinctive sound. Their music just floats in between your ears so easily actually deconstructing your mind. So we sat there and let it in 

Finbar Hoban presents.com -Deconstruction of the Mind, all in all this is a very solid second album and we are really looking forward to hearing  more of what The Lost Messiahs have to offer on the Irish Music scene in the future. We highly recommend checking the band out. 

deMars Entertainment- We were struck by the unique sound and cool lyrics, really pleasure to have the album for review. 

Joe.ie- Lights Out single, song of the week. 

Nashville Music City Songstar Contest- The Lost Messiahs song ‘Big Mistake got to semi-final stage.

Electric Picnic 2022

Crane Lane Theatre Cork

Dunamaise Theatre Portlaoise

Song writing Process:  Coming up with new material for an album can be both daunting and exhilarating. Some songs take a while to reveal themselves and patience is required to allow the creative process to evolve. Songs  usually arrive with initial lyric cues and melodies  which usually inform   the final recording. On completion, rough  demos of the songs  with scratch vocals are created  before the recording process begins in order to get a feel for the song and to consider production options. 

Production: You want a song to gradually reveal itself and veer off road a little before arriving at it’s finished destination. The fun is making the journey of discovery and seeing where the muse takes you. Oftentimes the tempo , melody,  lyrics , are changed frequently to arrive at a piece that works cohesively and connects. It involves searching for the  magic combination of elements that gives the listener a deep association with and that makes them want to delve deeper into.  Sometimes the unvarnished minimalist treatment allows a greater vulnerability to shine through and other times  it’s a wide-screened psychedelic approach  creating an escape to something  ethereal. There is usually a lot of experimentation with different instruments in the studio to see what supports the song best. Oftentimes we  will try different guitars, amps, mic configurations, keyboards, pianos etc  before settling  on the final versions of any songs. 

Producers Who Have Influenced Production Style: Daniel Lanois has always provided inspiration in particular his creation of beautiful textural sonic foundations that allow the emotions of the vocal and lyrics to balance delicately. His production on Bob Dylan’s OH Mercy and Time Out of Mind albums is sublime. Aaron Dessner from the National also continually inspires especially his production on the Boxer and High Violet album . His use of orchestration and in particular the beautiful dynamics tonal shifts that he creates within songs are a thing of sonic beauty . 

Recording Studio: All of the albums have been recorded in Golden Egg Studios and produced by Ollie Plunkett.  The studio has a fantastic sounding live room and an array of top recording equipment including a Solid State Logic Super Analogue Console ,great mics and a lot of great preamps, compressors, amps, guitars and keyboards .The vocals are mainly recorded using a Neumann U87 through a Neve 1073 pre amp. Outboard compression is mainly through Universal Audio 1176. Acoustic guitars are usually recording using a pair of AKG 414s. 

Instrumentation:

1975 Gibson Marauder – purchased in a  music shop in Galway. Originally owned by Leo Moran Sawdoctors . Ollie was  looking for a Neil Young sound but couldn’t afford a Les Paul. To get the Neil young sound he brought it to a guitar/amp tech genius James Moran who took a chunk out of the middle with a chisel and installed new pickups eureka he had the sound. 

1990 Gibson Les Paul – Originally owned by My Little Funhouse. My Little Funhouse  were signed to Geffen Records same label as Guns and Roses. They supported Guns and Roses in the States and the  Les Paul was played by Slash one night when on tour according to reliable sources. When Ollie brought the new guitar to band practice for the first time the drummer Dick Duff remarked where did you get the Golden Egg and subsequently that name ended up being the name for the recording studio Ollie built a few years later and where all The lost Messiahs albums have been recorded. 

1990 Guild Acoustic Guitar- Originally owned by My Little Funhouse. 

1970s Fender Stratocaster- This guitar was purchased in a cool vintage Guitar shop in Thomastown, Kilkenny . One day Ollie went to with his  then girlfriend, now wife Catriona, to Thomastown with €2,000 in his  pocket to purchase a ride on lawnmower. He saw a sign for vintage guitar shop and said to Catriona do you mind if we take a look. He  saw this beautiful American 1970s Fender Strat and put the purchase of the lawnmower on hold and bought the Strat. He proposed to Catriona shortly afterwards. 

Fender Twin Blackface 1970s 

Fender Twin Silverface 1970s

Fender Blues Deluxe Junior 2019

Marshall Super Lead 1970s