10/3/2024
Forgive me Appalachia, I do so love your folk music, but it is also remarkably rare to find an English folk group of this sort of song-writing calibre and musicianship who are also unapologetically influenced by English folk music first and foremost. The Moon Also Rises hits the ear like a modern day love letter to the raucous English troubadour tradition, steeped in the mythology of the isle (new and old), it's as joyous and celebratory as it is sombre and thought provoking. One of its strongest tracks, Song With No Name, was performed at this year's D-Day memorial in Normandy to a crowd of veterans and, in that context, it took on a whole new tone for me. The back half of the album feels more sedate and personal, while the front half speaks of the sort of uplifting merriment that comes only from good company, good cheer and good times well spent. It's an album to be sung with friends on long hikes through the countryside (which, funnily enough, was how much of it was composed), an album to delight loved ones with on long car trips and one to, almost without thinking, be hummed alone on sunny days when thoughts wander, simply because so much of it is just so damn catchy. While not perfect, it's an album I know I will be returning to for years to come.
The Moon Also Rises
11/10/2023
