The Lostines - Meet the Lostines (2024) [Hi-Res]

Although recorded in the band's hometown of New Orleans, Meet The Lostines — the full-length debut from songwriters Casey Jane Reece-Kaigler and Camille Wind Weatherford — is an album that charts its own geography. This is where the swampland meets the sock hop. Where golden-age rock & roll crosses paths with old-school country. Where timeless American roots music drops its anchor and climbs skyward, finding some balance between the earthy and the otherworldly.

At the center of that sound are the entwined voices of Casey Jane and Camille, two longtime friends whose songs explore the uncharted territory between genres. There's rarely a melody on Meet The Lostines that the two don't sing together, stacking their voices into lush harmonies that recall the girl groups of the 1960s. Don't mistake Meet The Lostines for a retro project, though. It's a modern album that exists out of time, filled with songs about heartbreak, old relationships, new beginnings, and vulnerability.

"Our songwriting process is like a therapy session," says Camille. "We'll show our ideas to each other, work out our harmonies, and then bring the song to our band so they can add their influences, too. When it comes to creating the full sound of the Lostines, the band — and New Orleans as a whole — has a huge influence on that."

Before relocating to New Orleans as young adults, Camille and Casey Jane were both raised by musical families in the Pacific Northwest. "My parents taught me to play guitar, and I grew up going to fiddle camps, too," says Casey Jane, an Oregon native whose vocal harmonies can be heard on albums across the New Orleans americana-verse. Meanwhile, Camille grew up in Portland, where her mother regularly attended a weekly jam session with several family friends. Camille began playing guitar as a teenager and eventually headed to New Orleans, meeting up with artists like Sam Doores, Riley Downing, and Pat Reedy along the way.

"New Orleans was a magnet for both of us," says Casey Jane. As new residents of the city, the two musicians crossed paths at a campfire hosted by a mutual friend. A spark was lit as soon as they sang together, with their voices meshing together seamlessly. Inspired, they formed their own band — one that would salute their adopted hometown of New Orleans, but also reach far beyond the city's borders for inspiration — and got to work, unveiling their sound with EPs like The Lostines and Heart of Night before turning a new page with Meet the Lostines.

Meet the Lostines is more than a full-length introduction. It's an invitation to enter the Lostines' world: a place where baritone guitars are coated in spring reverb, where orchestral strings swoon and sway, where Cajun fiddle solos share the spotlight with Theremin and upright piano. Many of these songs take place at night, and Meet the Lostines unfolds like a soundtrack to the wee small hours. “After the Party” takes the listener for a midnight walk along the levy overlooking the Mississippi River and the Industrial Canal, with fiddle and pedal steel guitar providing the soundtrack. “Neon Lights” looks back at an overnight drive from Los Angeles to Denver, with a bouncing chorus that's every bit as luminous as the title suggests. “Full Moon Night” twinkles like a sky full of stars, rooted in a storyline about desire, longing, and the lure of a past relationship.

With contributions from some of New Orleans' brightest lights, including Sam Doores (The Deslondes), Ross Farbe (Videoage), Howe Pearson and Gina Leslie (too many to count), Meet the Lostines is also the work of a community. Skyway Man camped out at the recording studio for a week, playing multiple instruments on multiple songs. K.C. Jones and Joel Savoy contributed dueling Cajun fiddles to "Southwest Texas" and "After the Party." Jordan Odom played electric guitar on "Come Back To My Arms," Casey McAllister played keys on "Southwest Texas," and Ross pulled double-duty as the album's lead guitarist and engineer in addition to mixing and co-producing the record with Sam and The Lostines. Casey Jane and Camille may have been the captains, but this was a team effort.

"We are fortunate to be surrounded by friends who are incredible musicians and songwriters, and we all influence one another," says Casey Jane. "A lot of our bandmates are in our friends' bands, as well, and there's something that feels very cohesive about that, because there's so much collaboration." Collaboration. That's the glue that holds Meet The Lostines together. It's an album that bridges the gaps between genres, created by two songwriters who're happy to build their own world.