Lost Boys Life Album Review

By Madison Duncan, Editor-In-Chief

On March 2, brothers Chuck and Darren Criss announced the collaboration they would be working on together called Computer Games. Starting with a big fanbase already, Chuck came from the band Freelance Whales and Darren came from the TV show Glee. The brothers, who have been playing music together their whole life, wrote a little bit of music together for Darren’s upcoming album but then decided to release the music together since they both worked on it equally.

The Lost Boys Life EP was released March 8, 2017. The album included three produced songs and another voice memo of the title song “Lost Boys Life”. Each song has Darren on lead vocals and Chuck coming through in the background. The album is influenced by the “greats” of the 80s and 90s, which both brothers grew up listening to. 

Each song in itself has a different vibe but all songs fit together very well. The first song, “We Like It”, is very acoustic guitar oriented with a simple beat. While the second song, “Every Single Night”, which is predicted to be a summer single, has a more electric guitar and trumpet feel with a major Gloria Estefan vibe. The song embodies the feeling of fun, but this feeling doubles when the band is performing the song onstage. With a catchy tune and chorus, I can definitely see this song as one of the big summer hits. Finally, the title track, Lost Boys Life, is a slower, piano/synth heavy ballad. A powerful sort of love song that talks about finding the one and settling down from the “lost boys life” that he was living.

Each song on the album is very, very catchy, like many of the songs Darren has put out before. However, this Computer Games project is very different from the album Darren put out in 2010 which had more of an acoustic, singer-songwriter feel.

Along with putting out this album, Darren announced at the Lost Boys Life release party that he will be releasing another “way overdo” singer-songwriter album later this year before previewing a song off the album called “The Day That the Dance is Over”.

The EP made the top of the charts on the first day it was released, much of the hype coming from Darren’s previous fanbase with Starkid, a musical theater group he co-founded in college, and Glee. The band is taking some time on other projects while seeing where this album takes them before deciding on if they want to tour the album and the songs.