Lugubrious 78 writes experimental music. However, that might be defined. Sometimes this morphs into more traditionally accepted song structures, whatever they might be. Sung in a confusing style consistent with that of ‘Subtle Antimusic’, these ‘Sketches of Musical Thought’ include lyrics that focus on the psychological-political axis, across the range of scales at which these processes operate.
Lugubrious 78 has released three albums as part of the EMPTY CHAIRS SERIES. ‘The Twelfth Ominous Anxiety’ (released 28 March 2025) has eight songs. ‘Repeat. Blindly.’ (released 28 October 2025) consists of twelve songs. ‘Empty Chairs’, the series’ eponymous album, was released on 29 May 2026 and contains another twelve songs written, recorded, and sometimes released in various forms over many years. The words from the music of Lugubrious 78 can be found at Lugubrious 78 - Song Lyrics.
These songs break from the experimental and instrumental music that Lugubrious 78 primarily composes (see, for example, Lugubrious 78 - The Early Explorations Series). The words provide one way to interpret what the music might be attempting to convey. Sometimes they are direct. At other times, the meaning may be less clear. As always, obfuscation remains a creative principle employed throughout. It may be risky to take them at face value. Ultimately, the reader or listener determines the final interpretation. These interpretations may match the original intention, or they may not.
Although released over a short period, many of the lyrics have been used in various forms since the early Nineteen-Nineties. They cover many different themes, including:
Mental Health (isolation, abandonment, trauma, anxiety, depression, and suicide)
Abuse of power and power dynamics
Political distrust, media manipulation, misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories
Capitalism, neoliberalism, commodification of art and music, artificial intelligence, and technological dependence
Misogyny, gender-based violence, racism, homophobia, war, environmental decay, and societal collapse
Predatory, manipulative, and coercive behaviours, bullying online and in person
In general, they critique the modern world and how its consequences may manifest in personal experience and societies more broadly. Words written over thirty years ago may still resonate or take on new meaning. They may offer insights into the repetitive nature of human existence and its crucial vulnerabilities to the nefarious forces that plague modern times, as they did before, and likely will again. Perhaps they offer nothing of relevance; instead, they have no meaning. Lost in the sheer quantity of information relentlessly vomited into this world. Conforming. Contradicting. Overwhelming. Distracting. Modernising for the status quo. It may help to check in with yourself…