Dark eyes --- Half Moon Run --- 2012 (Indica)
An indie band who have been together now for just over two years, Half Moon Run hail from Ottawa and British Columbia in Canada, and look to be well on their way to joining such other musical exports from that country as Arcade Fire, Glass Tiger and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Not that their style or music is necessarily akin to any or all of those bands, but they do have that certain something about them that seems to indicate that they may soon be spoken of in the same breath as them, and labelled perhaps as one of the brightest new Canadian hopes for 2012.
Half Moon Run are a trio, and this is their debut album, with influences ranging from rock and classical to electronic and folk. Each of the three bandmembers are versatile musicians, each playing more than one instrument and often crossing over, though it's the heavenly vocals of frontman Devon Portielje that really grab the attention and make you believe this is a band who are going places. They've already gone down well at local festivals, and no doubt will soon be on the road to support this, their first album.
There's a lovely folk sound about “Full circle”, which opens the album on soft acoustic guitar with rumbling percussion coming in, the vocal from Devon almost rap-like in places, then some beautifully inspired guitar from Conner Molander adds more layers to the song, but the real centrepiece becomes the triple harmonies on the vocals. A restrained and yet powerful song, it says what it needs to say without shouting or any instrumental histrionics. Almost acoustic in ways, it's simple and yet very effective, and leads into “Call me in the afternoon”, a little poppier, led on another nice guitar line but with an electro drumbeat that makes the song a lot dancier and yet keeps from going all the way down the electronica path. Definitely one for the audience to clap along to.
Really introspective guitar takes us into “No more losing the war”, almost early Floydesque in Devon's vocal and the simple guitar line, slowly evolving into something more intricate, little in the way of percussion as the acoustic guitar leads the song along until about a minute and a half in when the drums cut in but not too forcefully. Lovely bit of slide guitar from Molander, and soft keys from Dylan Phillips, a very gentle yet bitter song, which could make a good single. Elements of REM and Travis in the song, then “She wants to know” is a faster, uptempo rocker with some bright piano and a frankly menacing bassline, the guitar punching up the intensity as the song moves along on an almost new wave synth melody.
One of the standouts is next, the beautiful laidback blues ballad “Need it”, where Conner Molander excels on the guitar (although it could be Devon, as they do tend to interchange) with some solid organ and great vocal harmonies; you don't so much hear this song as let it wash over you, drowning you in its sumptuous melodies and gentle nuances. Rolling, chugging drums then kick the tempo up a little for “Give up”, with another great guitar line and drawled, weary vocal from Devon which suits the theme of the song perfectly. Some nice soft keyboards slide in, and Devon's vocal gets a little more ragged and hoarse, as if he's reaching the end of his rope. It really is the drum (drum machine?) that carries this track though, providing the melodic canvas upon which the rest of the instruments paint the picture. There seems to be some violin in there too, but solid details on the album aren't easily available, so I couldn't say for sure: could be on the synth. Very effective though.
“Judgement” opens on a simple acoustic piano run, soon joined by bass and some sparse percussion, then breaks out into a sharp, punchy electronica tune with some very rocky guitar which pulls the song from electro/dance to rock and back, sort of like a tug-of-war is going on. The keyboards are bright, happy and chirpy, the guitar more growling and insistent, then things get even more dancy and darkly electronic with “Drug you”, with its trance-like rhythm and melody, while in almost direct contrast we have the lovely, dreamy “Nerve”, with an almost John Lennon-style guitar sound and a certain sense of early Deacon Blue about it, mixed in with a little Prefab Sprout.
Though there's no title track as such, the title is mentioned as the opening lines to “Fire escape”, a laidback little ballad which rides along on a sprightly little guitar track and is augmented along the way by some soulful harmonica, again possibly on synth but it sounds quite authentic. The album closes on “21 gun salute”, a rolling, sweetly organ-driven half-ballad with gentle percussion that later in the song kicks up into a higher gear, with Devon singing at the top of his game and some lovely electronic touches on the keys to fill out the song. It's a good closer, and an example of how versatile this band are, how they can cross from genre to genre with relative ease, comfortable in either, or both.
As a debut album this is quite stunning. I had never heard of the band prior to this, and like a lot of the newer material I review here, it was a punt: I liked the name, both of the band and the album, and just took a chance that it would be good. It is. It's
very good. It's not quite the debut of the year so far, but it's pretty damn close, and it's certainly an album I'm glad I took a risk buying.
Half Moon Run. Remember the name. Watch for them at the bigger Canadian festivals, if you're lucky enough to be able to see them live over there, and don't be surprised if they cross the Atlantic and start making waves over this side of the world. In fact, don't be surprised if you start hearing them on the radio, or they appear on TV. You can't hide talent this good, and you can't hold down a band like this for very long.
TRACKLISTING
1. Full circle
2. Call me in the afternoon
3. No more losing the war
4. She wants to know
5. Need it
6. Give up
7. Judgement
8. Drug you
9. Nerve
10. Fire escape
11. 21 gun salute