Tag: Newmoon Temporary Light

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Newmoon Shares Painterly “Crazing”

Antwerp-based shoegazer outfit Newmoon established a sound and approach that meshes elements of shoegaze, post-punk and alternative rock with dreamy melodies, atmospheric soundscapes and emotive lyrics with the release of 2014’s Invitation to Hold EP, 2016’s full-length debut, Space and 2019’s sophomore effort Nothing Hurts Forever.

The Belgian shoegazer outfit’s third album Temporary Light is slated for a March 22, 2024 release through PIAS Recordings across the European Union and Manifesto Entertainment, a new imprint of Quiet Panic, across the US. The album reportedly marks the next step in the band’s musical evolution, showcasing their growth as a band and musicians — and their dedication to creating transformative music.

Sonically speaking, the album sees the Belgian outfit returning to their roots to embrace an abrasive yet ethereal sound — but with a fresh approach. The band’s new drummer Conor Dawson enriches the band’s signature penchant for grand yet delicate melodies with rhythmic finesse, adding a layer of depth and musicality to the album’s material. “Thick layers of guitars always felt natural to us, and are kind of our main thing. We wanted to explore some ideas that have been in the back of our mind ever since we started this band,” Newmoon’s Bert Cannaerts explains. “As soon as we let go of trying to write a specific type of album, the songs grew organically and everything just clicked.”

Late last year, I wrote about Temporary Light‘s first single, the slow-burning and brooding “Fading Phase,” a track that channeled Souvlaki-era Slowdive and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve that felt as comforting as pulling a warm blanket over you on a chilly night. 

“Crazing,” Temporary Light‘s third and latest single sees the band incorporating several different guitar textures — fuzzy and droning guitars, shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars — in swirling layers of enveloping sound paired with a propulsive rhythm section. An achingly plaintive vocal melody is buried within the lush and dreamy mix, seemingly yearning to burst free from their confines. For me, the result is a song that’s brooding yet yearning, noisy but painterly, heavy yet ethereal — and with a hint of bright optimism.

“‘Crazing’ is one of the noisier songs on this album”, Newmoon’s Bert Cannaerts explains. “We’re always looking for that one melody that hides within a song. With ‘Crazing’ we wanted to try our hand at a song that incorporates loads of guitar textures but still feels melodic and airy. On one hand it has these dark and droning fuzzed out guitars but on the other hand it sounds fresh and uplifting. The song exists on the edge of dark and gloomy with a hint of brightness and optimism. The exact spot where we like our music to sit”, he adds.

The accompanying video continues a run of trippy and decidedly 120 Minutes-era MTV alternative rock/shoegaze-like visuals that includes the band performing the song in a bare studio with loads of VHS fuzz and feedback seemingly mimicking the song’s guitar textures. There’s also a vase of flowers, which adds to the painterly feel of everything.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Antwerp’s Newmoon Shares Shimmering And Atmospheric “Fading Phase”

With the release of 2014’s Invitation to Hold EP, 2016’s Space and 2019’s Nothing Hurts Forever, Antwerp-based shoegazer outfit Newmoon have established a sound and approach that meshes elements of shoegaze, post-punk and alternative rock with dreamy melodies and atmospheric soundscapes paired with emotive lyrics.

The Belgian shoegazer outfit’s third album Temporary Light is slated for a March 22, 2024 release through PIAS Recordings across the European Union and Manifesto Entertainment, a new imprint of Quiet Panic, across the US. Temporary Light reportedly marks the next step in the band’s musical evolution, showcasing their growth as a band and musicians — and their dedication to creating transformative music. Sonically speaking, the album sees the Belgian outfit returning to their roots to embrace an abrasive yet ethereal sound — but with a fresh approach. The band’s new drummer Conor Dawson enriches the band’s signature penchant for grand yet delicate melodies with rhythmic finesse, adding a layer of depth and musicality to the album’s material.

“Thick layers of guitars always felt natural to us, and are kind of our main thing. We wanted to explore some ideas that have been in the back of our mind ever since we started this band,” Newmoon’s Bert Cannaerts explains. “As soon as we let go of trying to write a specific type of album, the songs grew organically and everything just clicked.”

Temporary Light‘s first single is the slow-burning and brooding “Fading Phase.” Built around thunderous drumming and swirling layers of shimmering and painterly guitar textures around the verses, a stormy and towering feedback and reverb-drenched solo paired with dreamily plaintive vocals, “Fading Phase” channels Souvlaki-era Slowdive and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and feels as comforting as pulling a warm blanket over you on a chilly night.

“While writing this album Bert got a new guitar. It was an older Rickebacker from the 90’s with loads of wear and tear on it already,” the band says of the new single. “Definitely a guitar that had been loved by an older guitar player before he got it. The main riff of “Fading Phase” was the first thing he wrote on that guitar and after that the whole song just kind of wrote itself. Definitely one of those moments where everything just falls into place.”

The accompanying video follows the members of the Belgian shoegazer outfit getting together for a night out in Antwerp, bar and club hopping, then stop at a house party before heading home, bleary eyed.