The follow-up to their 2017 debut, The Big Moon’s new album is just as bold, romantic and packed with instant hits — but this time they’re bringing something extra to the table too.
The grungy guitars are gone now, replaced with sweeping soundscapes, a keyboard and piano, while Juliette Jackson’s songwriting has evolved to include a mature awareness of the unavoidable tribulations of love alongside the dreamy romanticism of the band’s first record.
It’s Easy Then ushers in their new age, with Jackson capturing a sense of anxiety, her deep vocals offset perfectly by her bandmate’s backing vocal, reassuring piano and quiet, slightly space-age synths.
The confessional Waves also starts life as a piano-led ballad and exhibits Jackson’s songwriting at its best — “I never saw the tide come in, I only saw the waves” — before crashing drums give way to a pleasantly overwhelming synth-led soundscape.
Take A Piece features enough giddy romance to banish the winter blues, as Jackson’s declarations of love — “Put me on the pages of your life story [...] I need you so much more than I need me” — are fortified by dreamy backing vocals and sway-inducing drum beats.
“I’m going to start a religion,” she declares on Holy Roller. Where do we sign up?
