Review by Stan Cierlitsky
On October 11 Belgian indie rockers Newmoon return with their new album, Nothing Hurts Forever. The album was recorded and produced by Andy Savours (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, My Bloody Valentine, The Horrors), and you will definitely hear elements of those bands scattered throughout this release. The band announced the record by stating:
"After Space, we decided to explore a more musical approach and to hide less behind feedback and noise. Growing and evolving as a band is very important to us and this album reflects that. We can't wait for you to hear the full thing."
And there is my review in a nutshell. Just kidding, but those couple of statements really describe the transition between recent Newmoon albums very well. Their debut full-length release, Space, had some incredibly high-octane indie-rock anthems on it, specifically "Helium" and "Head of Stone", among others. Nothing Hurts Forever covers a lot more ground stylistically, I'm happy to report.
My wife probably put it best when we were listening to Nothing Hurts Forever, when she said: "All of the songs have a very comfortable and familiar feel." Picking out the comparison-points when describing this one are a little challenging though. The songs this time out mostly reminded me of an old underrated English band called The High. The vocals are similar, a very breathy, very English-sounding effect here. Also, Bert Cannaerts sounds a bit like a young Tim Burgess (The Charlatans), or maybe even a subdued Ian Brown (The Stone Roses).
Lead single and first track "Let it End" is a mid-tempo rocker. My friend Bob got me into Newmoon back in 2016. I asked him what bands he would compare them too. He said The Ropers. I agree, and that seems an especially apt point of comparison, especially so on this song. The second single is "Collide Into Me".
Given their earlier material, it's, shockingly, a slow song! I didn't know these guys were capable of slowing it down this far, but man, it's a beautiful track. It shimmers a bit like stuff from The Mary Onettes, or tunes from The Ocean Blue. And while both of these songs are good, the rest of the album is even better.
"In Harmony" is one of the album's better tracks. "You and me in harmony..." is the main line, and it really sums up where Newmoon are right now in their career. The vocals, the lyrics, and the music are all working together to make perfect indie-rock songs here. As much as I liked some of those early, harder songs from Newmoon, these are just better.
"Blue Hole" is another standout track. It opens simply, with voice and acoustic guitar with a whole lot of reverb and depth in the recording making it sound a tiny bit like Darklands-era Jesus & Mary Chain. Halfway through, the song kicks in with fuzzy guitars and everything soars, and then it changes up a little and ventures even higher. The cut reminds me a little of one of my other favorite songs of the year, "Daniel Boone" by The Pixies.
"In and Out and Over" is another shocker for those of us who were fans of their 2016 album, Space. Sounding like they have been listening to old Noel Gallagher acoustic tracks, Newmoon make this one succeed on the strengths of an arrangement of just a voice and an acoustic guitar, with a few faint electric guitar plucks in there too. The track finishes up with some old church bells chiming in, and it's just a beautiful song.
The short album ends with "Only You". "Step out and feel the sunshine coming down. When you're not around, I don't miss your sound." With lyrics like those, I thought of Ride singles. Still, this is another great track, and a great finish for the album.
Overall, I think that Nothing Hurts Forever is going to surprise a lot of people. Your webmaster didn't know this band when I asked to review their new album, but he loved this record too. My wife couldn't believe this was the same band that put out those earlier heavy songs, but she loved this album too when I was playing it over and over again. I love this album and it's one I urge you to check out if you're new to this band, or already a fan like I was.
Nothing Hurts Forever is out on Friday and available here, or digitally via Amazon in the USA.
More details on Newmoon via the band's official Facebook page, or the band's official website.
[Photo: Evenbeeld]