The Lost Songs

On 18 April, The Lost Songs returns to The Mick Lally Theatre, bringing audiences back into the extraordinary true story of ransomware, loss, and creative endurance that has resonated deeply since its first unveiling.

This one-night performance revisits the four‑year odyssey that began in 2017, when a collection of original recordings was suddenly encrypted by the GandCrab virus - one of the most disruptive ransomware attacks of its time. What followed was a surreal descent into the digital underworld. In an attempt to recover the material, the artist was forced into the murky landscape of the dark web to purchase the cryptocurrency demanded by the attackers. During that process, and using details scraped from the browser, their bank account was emptied.

It was Christmas week. With the recordings locked away and the financial fallout immediate, Christmas Day itself was cancelled. Instead of celebration, the day was spent painstakingly rebuilding the entire effects chain from memory-an act of creative defiance in the face of total loss. For years, the songs remained sealed behind unbreakable encryption.

Only in 2021, when decryption tools for GandCrab were finally released, could the original material be recovered. What emerged was not just a set of tracks, but a creative life suspended and restored.

On 18 April, The Lost Songs becomes a renewed act of resurrection. Blending storytelling, sound, and audience participation, the performance invites viewers to step inside the emotional and digital archaeology of losing work, rebuilding identity, and reclaiming what was taken. Joining the production once again is acclaimed visual artist Conor Maloney (Funeral For Ashes), who will generate real‑time visuals using TouchDesigner. His work transforms the stage into a living, reactive environment-an evolving visual counterpart to the music’s long journey back from silence. Maloney’s presence adds a dynamic, sensory dimension to the performance, echoing the fragility, distortion, and eventual clarity of the recovered material. The Mick Lally Theatre - home to bold, intimate, and innovative work - provides the perfect setting for this return.

The Lost Songs is both a personal story and a contemporary parable, speaking to the vulnerabilities of digital life, the resilience of artists, and the strange intersections of creativity and technology in the modern world. On 18 April, the once‑vanished tracks will be heard - and seen - again. The Lost Songs return to the place where their resurrection began.