Lost in Alphaville

Lost in Alphaville
Studio album by The Rentals
Released	August 22, 2014 (digital) August 25, 2014
Recorded	Sans-Souci Studios, The Colburn School (both Los Angeles, CA), Atomic Heart Studios (New York, NY), Haptown Studios (Nashville, TN)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	40:19
Label	Polyvinyl Records
Producer(s)	Matt Sharp & The Rentals
The Rentals chronology
Songs About Time (2009) Lost in Alphaville (2014) Q36 (2020)
Singles from Lost in Alphaville
"Thought of Sound" Released: June 4, 2014 "1000 Seasons" Released: July 23, 2014

Lost in Alphaville is the third studio album by the Rentals. It was released on August 25, 2014.

Overview

When asked about the album's origins in an interview with Gabriel Sigler for Bad Feeling Magazine, Rentals frontman Matt Sharp stated that the concept for the album came about after visiting a friend in Barcelona. Said Sharp: "I returned there to see someone, and the songs kind of came quickly while I was there. Just thinking about where I was in those times, and where I am now, and all the little adventures that happened in between, thinking about where you’re going. And the record just kind of came out of that, you know?" Sharp announced that the Rentals had signed with the label Polyvinyl Records in December of 2013.

All of the songs featured on Lost in Alphaville previously appeared, in some form, on the band's 2009 multimedia project Songs About Time. In an interview with Scott Heisel for Substream Magazine, Sharp commented on the transition from Songs About Time to Alphaville:

"We made 52 short films in that year, and the idea was maybe only 10 of them are even going to be worth watching. You’re scrambling how to get a concept together, get it shot and edited within a week. Maybe 10 of those out of 52 were good, so that means people were watching 42 bad art films—or films that aren’t bad, but just don’t work [...] The question for me at the end of [Songs About Time] was “Were you able to convey that feeling the right way?” And the answer was, “No, I’m having to make people dig through 52 short films to get there!"

For Lost in Alphaville, Rentals frontman Matt Sharp was joined by previous Rentals collaborator Lauren Chipman on viola, violin, and piano; vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig (of the band Lucius); Ryen Slegr (of Ozma) on guitar; and Patrick Carney (of the Black Keys) on drums.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Matt Sharp. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Time to Come Home"	4:00
2.	"Traces of Our Tears"	3:25
3.	"Stardust"	2:48
4.	"1000 Seasons"	3:15
5.	"Damaris"	4:54
6.	"Irrational Things"	4:14
7.	"Thought of Sound"	3:44
8.	"Song of Remembering"	3:37
9.	"Seven Years"	4:34
10.	"The Future"	5:48
Total length:		40:19

Japan-only bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Thought of Sound (Outtake)"	3:22

Personnel

• Matt Sharp - vocals, bass, synthesizers, production
• Jess Wolfe - vocals
• Holly Laessig - vocals
• Ryen Slegr - guitars, engineering
• Lauren Chipman - viola, violin, piano
• Patrick Carney - drums
• Roger Moutenot - engineering, additional percussion,
• Adam Bednarik - engineering
• Dave Sardy - mixing
• Patrick Doyle - mix prep engineering
• Andy Brohard - mix engineering
• Cameron Barton - mix engineering
• Ryan Smith - mastering

See also

• The Rentals
• Songs About Time
• List of Matt Sharp songs