Lost Velvet

UK cinematic alternative rock duo Lost Velvet announce their debut album Dark Cells, out on Friday 4th September, alongside their new single and video, 2003, released Friday 28th August 2026. 

Who is in Lost Velvet, how did you meet and what do you play?

Rob: Lost Velvet consists of myself (Robert Butcher) and Melissa Morris. We met online when I was searching for a bassist on a previous project. Mel got in touch and we quickly found that we had what we needed as a duo to build what we wanted to in the studio. When we play live, we have a drummer and a bassist perform with us to complete the sound.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Rob: Singing ‘Strangers in the Night’ with my dad. He used to put on this ridiculous voice and facial expression which was hilarious as a child!

Mel: My dad always wanted to be a video director, he often filmed our childhood moments and would turn everything into a music video or soundtrack so I associate a lot of music (in particular Fleetwood Mac – Everywhere) with nostalgic memories.

When did you begin songwriting?

Rob: I began being part of the songwriting process when I was about 13. But at that time, I didn’t sing or write lyrics, I was the musical part of a songwriting partnership. My songwriting generally followed that pattern all the way into my mid-twenties, when I started to write full songs on my own.

Mel: I started songwriting in my early twenties, when I was at uni, collaborating with other musicians more often, then on my own.

You have your debut album ‘Dark Cells’ being released on Friday 4th September 2026. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

Rob: The record is a distillation of many years of songwriting, one of the most important elements for me was to have no filler songs. I’m sure no band believes any of their songs are filler, but I can count on one hand the albums in my collection where I like every song. Each song needed to stand on its own as well as being part of the whole.

Mel: Many of the foundations of the songs had already been built by Rob over a number of years, and as we started working on them together, the identity of the album gradually became more defined. We both seem to recognise the same moments when a song has that certain pull, and those became the songs we wanted to pursue. Rather than trying to make the songs fit an idea of what Lost Velvet should be, I think the songs ultimately showed us what Lost Velvet was.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

Rob: The album was recorded entirely in my home studio, and it was produced by us both.

Mel: We self-produced and mixed our first Endless EP, but for the upcoming album we decided to bring in Michael Patterson to mix the record, for his exceptional experience, ears and advice. It was really valuable having an outside perspective on the songs after being so immersed in them ourselves, and he helped bring a more cohesive sound to the album as a whole.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

Rob: It’s all a bit of a blur! I certainly enjoyed the recording sessions, we spent a lot of time tracking and re-tracking vocals, layering them too – to the point of delirium it seems! I think that recording all your music from home makes the process more prosaic, with less memorable anecdotes but with the freedom to spend as long as was required on certain elements without the fear of costs racking up.

Mel: I think driving Rob crazy with my sssssss sounds watching him deal with editing our dual vocals until the late nights and having to re-record parts with literally no consonants – which sounded rather delightful….
Also the night we recorded ‘There’ was one of my most favourite evenings as it just flowed and despite being written about a negative experience it felt so instantly uplifting. I listened to it loudly on the drive home and got so lost in it that I didn’t realise I had the police behind me trying to pull me over.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

Rob: I use a Squier Tele Deluxe on the whole record along with a Fender Jazz bass on most tracks. The one piece of equipment that came to define the sound of the record however was the Kaoss Pad (KP3+). We would track our main vocals with an Aston condenser microphone which to my ears has a very clinical and detailed sound. Layering the vocals with a SM58 going through the KP3+ created a totally different texture to the condenser mic takes. Typically, we would perform with the delay to elongate the tails of the notes. Another interesting part of that process was performing our layered vocal takes without the sibilant or plosive syllables due to the printed delay capturing the unwanted S’s and repeating them.

I’d also like to mention my lovely Yamaha U3 upright piano, which was used to record all the piano parts.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Rob: I think you are asking the wrong band in regard to expressions of happiness through music! That is not to say I am a miserable person; music is simply not the vehicle through which I express happiness. Ironically, the happiest sounding track on the album was written from a place of absolute despair when I was struggling with my health.

I’d say the angriest sounding track is probably Dark Cells, but the meaning and feeling of the track is more spectral and otherworldly than angry, more detached.

The most reflective track is probably Half Right. It’s the most sombre and pastel-shaded of all the songs on the album and the lyrics have a reflective, unmoored quality.

Mel: Yeh the happiest is There which isn’t actually a happy song! lol Angriest for me is probably Summer’s Gone, it feels a little gloomier than Dark Cells, which carries an equal weight. Most reflective possibly Thin Skies for its longer instrumental post rock ending, it’s tense but so restrained and I lose myself in it every time.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Rob: Yes. It took bloody ages. And many other failed attempts!
Mel: It took great effort, lots of decisions and long hours. But we are really proud of it.

Who designed the album artwork?

Rob: The concept was created collaboratively between the band and our photographer Natalia D’Ark. The shot was taken in the woods and then Natalia undertook the unenviable task of digitally manipulating the image to our exacting specifications. It took many revisions and additions, including adding my scrawled handwriting on to the bench in post-production. About 20 revisions later, and it was finished. We are very happy with it. Natalia’s ability in post-editing led some to believe the image was AI. Perhaps she did her job too well!?

Mel: Natalia D’Ark has the same eye for detail that we do. She also has a love for dark art and cinematic imagery, and as both a photographer and painter, we really respect the way she brings those two disciplines together. We especially love the small details she creates by hand, she actually painted the tiny stars into the portal for the album artwork.

One of the tracks is the single ‘Right Back’ out now. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Rob: It’s hard to say the exact stories behind the songs as they appear nebulously. The lyrics are drawn subconsciously from the music; I just put down what the music evokes. What I can say is I remember coming up with the verse and chorus guitar part and feeling like I had something. Hopefully the song can be understood in many different ways.

Mel: Right Back has quite introspective lyrics that can be perceived in different ways. From one angle, it can be heard as a song about secrecy and deception, but there’s also this idea of projection and living under the weight of someone else’s version of events. The song chooses to lift the veil and return that emotional weight back to its source. We carried the idea of something being hidden or revealed into the music video too, through the use of a black veil.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind it and who directed it?

Mel: We wanted the video to reflect the song itself, so our starting point was to keep everything stripped back, simple and beautiful. We focused on monochrome imagery and the interplay between shadows, smoke and light, letting the atmosphere do most of the storytelling. Our filming process is usually quite organic. We put together mood boards beforehand, but once we’re on set it’s very much a case of responding to the space and figuring things out as we go. Working independently, often with limited space and budget, means we rely heavily on creativity and thinking out of the box – this can sometimes mean that ideas roll away from their core. However, throughout filming Right Back, we kept coming back to the same question: “Can we reduce this further to make it more evocative?”

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Rob: Technically, my hometown is Hounslow, London, but I grew up in Chandler’s Ford near Southampton. I would describe it as: leafy, suburban, parochial, nondescript, boring

Mel: I feel that ‘Reading’ is ‘our’ hometown – at least that is where our band spend most of our time together – traffic, diverse, festivals, connected, nostalgic

How do you look after your voices?

Rob: In true rock and roll fashion, I smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink a lot of beer.

Mel: I don’t smoke 😉 I drink plenty of herbal tea with honey, warm up and warm down if I’ve been pushing my voice, and if I have a sore throat or a cold, I add throat drops to my water. I’ve always felt my voice is one of my more delicate features, and for me it’s closely connected to my emotional energy and throat chakra. If I’m feeling run down or emotionally out of balance, it’s usually the first place I notice it.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026?

Mel: We are playing 229 in London on 23rd August supporting Town Portal. Then after that we have an acoustic show on 12th September at Down At The Abbey.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

Rob: Global superstardom and egregious wealth 😉

Mel: I’d love to wake up to a few DMs the next day from people who came to the show… and enough merch sales to help cover our overheads!

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

Rob: I am primarily a keyboard player over a guitarist, so I have a particular soft spot for my 20-year-old Yamaha P60. They don’t make em’ like that anymore! When it comes to effects on the guitar however, the Digitech Whammy is for me, the ultimate guitar pedal, I love it.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

Rob: The two novels I think of straight away have already been made into film masterpieces: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I would say No Country for Old Men, as the Coen brother’s adaptation has no soundtrack! It’s a hard sell to say it could be improved upon though…

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

Rob: Radiohead, Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley and Alice in Chains are my main influences. I have a recommendation, as so many people I speak to have never heard of them: Esbjorn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.). Unfortunately, Esbjorn died in 2008, leaving behind his incredible solo piano pieces discovered years after his death in the posthumously released “HOME.S.”

What makes Lost Velvet happy and what makes you unhappy?

Rob: Making music makes me happy – making nothing from it makes me unhappy!

Mel: Playing a great show makes me happy. Spending time with the band makes me happy. Listening back to the final mixes and masters when everything finally clicks is one of the best feelings. Being offered a really exciting gig slot is always a highlight too. On the flip side, release day can sometimes feel a little underwhelming or anticlimactic.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By San PR

Lost Velvet’s new single ‘2003’ and its accompanying video are released Friday 28th August 2026, followed by the album ‘Dark Cells’ on Friday 4th September 2026.

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