“UNRELENTINGLY pretty” is a characterisation many bands would shy away from, but Newcastle dream-pop duo Moonsign welcomes the description.
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“I would say our music is very delicate,” vocalist and songwriter Bastian Fox Phelan said.
“A friend described our music as unrelentingly pretty, which I like.”
The band draws inspiration from acts like Beach House, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush and pop music in general.
“We have a wide range of influences,” Phelan said.
“It’s electronic, but warmer than most people might immediately imagine.
“We make a lot of sounds, sampling my voice, there are lush layers of instruments, both real instruments and sounds that are generated.
“What we want to create is something emotionally warm.”
Formed about five years ago, Moonsign’s line-up has previously expanded, contracted and seen members come and go.
Currently Phelan collaborates with founding member Carlin McLellan.
The pair are currently working on their second full length album, Okay You First.
”Our album is themed around dealing with grief about climate change,” Phelan said.
The songs invite the listener to think about “nature as a sentient being, which we are in relationship with, rather than a resource we can use up”.
"This is something that many groups of Indigenous peoples have believed for thousands of years,” Phelan said. “ I think Western society is only just catching up. For example, a Maori tribe won legal rights in 2017 for Whanganui river to be recognised as their ancestor."
The recording is, in part, a reply to Anohni’s 2016 album Hopelessness.
“In a way, our album is a response to some of the things Anohni was bringing up with Hopelessness.”
They have consciously crafted songs which explore the grief, but also offer the opportunity to move through the feelings – inspired by a quote from an interview with Anohni, that "hopelessness is a feeling, not a fact".
The work is also a collaboration with other artists. The song Everything features Adelaide artist Lonelyspeck, while Sydney-based rapper Bilby performs on a duet titled Let’s Split.
While a release date has not been set, they expect Okay You First, to be out by the end of the year. Moonsign hope to organise a collaborative art exhibition to release their album.
The first single Before Dawn was released this week on Waterfall label, along with a film-clip for the song.
Catalogue: moonsign.bandcamp.com, Facebook.com/moonsignband