Newmoon

I've liked Belgium's Newmoon ever since I first heard the single Helium and they sent me an advance of their debut LP 'Space' to review. I covered that LP on our old site TheMusicTheMessage and really dug their brand of wall of guitars shoegaze/dreampop mixed with post-rock and post-punk / psychadelia. With a number of bands bringing the sounds of Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and shoegaze of the early 90s back (including the original bands re-emerging themselves), I was curious to see what Newmoon would bring with their upcoming effort, "Nothing Hurts Forever" and how they would progress. With the singles released so far, it sounds like Newmoon has stripped back some of the noise and wall of guitars on their previous efforts and have replaced it with more emphasis on melody (both vocal and guitar) and catchy hooks. I'm loving the new singles, especially "In Harmony" which is more remiscent of newer school dream pop / jangly emoish indie-rock in the vein of Turnover (Peripheral Vision era) and Jaws (Simplicity era), while still having elements of bands like Ride and MBV. These singles have been stuck in my head since I've heard them, so I can't wait to hear them in context with the rest of the LP. Be on the lookout for this album when it drops October 11th.