Comprised of long-time friends and musical collaborators, Daniel Woodhead and Maddy Wilde, the Toronto, ON-based duo of Moon King  released their Obsession 1 and Obsession 2 EPs to critical praise across the blogosphere for a wall of sound-based, dream pop sound. But after about a year of touring with the like of fellow Torontonians Fucked Up, the duo along with the members of their touring band to record material that more accurately captured the energy and feel of their live shows, while it was still fresh. In fact, most of the material on the band’s forthcoming full-length debut, Secret Life was recorded live to tape with additional vocal work added later. 

The album’s first single “Roswell” reveals a change of sonic direction and approach for the band. Woodhead and Wilde have stripped away the gigantic, wall of sound sound so that the vocals and lyrics are much clearer and much like The Horrors latest effort, Luminous, the material sounds as though it owes a debt to Kraftwerk, as there’s a greater emphasis on synths crafting a tight, propulsive motorik groove. And much like Luminous, “Roswell” manages to be soaring arena rock anthemic but dreamily so.