Album Review: The Big Moon Walking Like We Do

Venturing from the choppy froth of the shallows into the deeper glacial cool of the pop ocean, The Big Moon have jettisoned the gnarly guitars of their debut album, Love In The 4th Dimension, in favour of bubbling synths, choral chants and sprinklings of brass. It all results in a slick ’90s feel – Aimee Mann backed by New Order, if you’re twisting my arm to summarise. The pop polish is no doubt partly attributable to producer Ben H. Allen, who’s contributed to more than his fair share of chart-botherers.

The album has a sense of change, of seeking new horizons with a concurrent vague unease. When travelling without benefit of a map, you might discover a new continent. By the same token, you may end up in the Bermuda Triangle, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. 

Reflecting the exploration into uncharted territory, Juliette Jackson’s lyrics evince the combination of nervous excitement and trepidation attendant to such a venture. Uncertain yet determined. ‘Waves’ exemplifies the former feeling, while ‘A Hundred Ways To Land’ illustrates the second, with it’s ‘fake it til you make it’ survivor’s instinct; a rallying cry to embrace human nature and keep moving into the unknown, even though, “We don’t know where we’re going but we’re walking like we do”.

 ‘Don’t Think’, with its epic chorus, is an exhortation to trust one’s instinct, stand on the edge and do or die: “Ya gotta make your move.” The Big Moon have taken their next step.