By Charley Ruddell
Finding peace in uncertainty is a boundless struggle, but the rewards are eternally fulfilling.
Rotterdam-based singer/songwriter Lisa Lukaszczyk, otherwise known as Luka, is enlightened by this. On “Lost Today/Found Tomorrow,” her debut single with Dutch indie label Snowstar Records, Luka presents acceptance with an electro-pop grace, summoning the ethereal spirit and pop drama found in artists like Imogen Heap and Bon Iver. The song’s accompanying video, directed by Charlene van Kasteren, captures this grace by using space to depict beauty found in the surrounding nothingness.
“Lost Today/Found Tomorrow” is a guided meditation in embracing an inevitable end. “What was lost today / Will be found tomorrow,” Luka sings with poise in a swirling cavity of soft synth pads as a slow zoom looms, her face wrapped in a hazy light emanating from the faded curtains behind her. She moves steadily, subtly. Like a tibetan singing bowl or a Koshi chime, the gentle repetition of the synth knells feel like anchors within the song’s otherwise untethered transcendence. “I’ve been gone for days / But I count on tomorrow,” she poses; it’s a conjuring of the soul in the steps of acceptance, peeling away the brittle layers of skin hardened by humanity to revel in the singular beat of a pulse.
Van Kasteren’s vision is stark, but brimming with bliss in every corner of each frame, one that uses the void of space to capture how life extends beyond human sentience. You can feel the crisp air in the barren landscapes, you can smell the dust settling among the furniture in the quiet house. As the story progresses, Luka’s movements, though delicate and smooth, become swifter and more exaggerated. These moments add up to a greater whole, unfolding in a euphoric surrender. Luka, lying flat, feet dangling, slowly lifts into the sky, raptured by the great uncertainty of what lies beyond existence, arcadian and whole.