Regardless of the weather outside, be it frightful or not, a very, very, very warm welcome greets you upstairs at The Lexington. The warmest of welcomes. So warm it warms your fridge cold bottle of beer within minutes to an unpleasant…..warmth.
So just drink it quickly and get back to the bar, it isn’t far away, it’s a tiny venue. Hurry, The Big Moon are starting.
In January they release their 2nd LP, Walking Like We Do, and tonight they’re giving it a proper preview, premiering a glut of new tunes they’ve never played live before.
We’ve had singles ‘Easy Then’ and ‘Your Light’ pepper the summer, but it’s getting cold, the nights are drawing in and the sun isn’t shining much anymore.
On the basis of this run through, which includes ‘Don’t Think’ and ‘Why’ that they first played at their Glastonbury warm up shows in Tunbridge Wells and Southampton, and the sun dappled, warm pink album artwork, it doesn’t suit a winter release.
What isn’t in doubt is that The Big Moon are expert exponents of the pop song. From the kick off of ‘Silent Movie Suzie’ and ‘Sucker’, the crowd encouraging ‘Bonfire’ and the epic ‘Cupid’ , 2017’s Love In The 4th Dimension is the best pop record of the decade. Dimension is a perfect word for it, as they have many. Each song escapes the trad verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus by having electric bridges, perfect post-chorus’, massive middle eights and ace codas.
The new stuff is unmistakably The Big Moon but the tempo has dropped, synthesiser replaces double guitar, harmonies are more pronounced and there’s more atmospheric production.
‘Don’t Think’ has a slower groove than the first record but it’s a glam disco stomper with a killer chorus, which is a bit of a departure from the rest of the new records songs which incorporate more space and less instrumentation.
‘Waves’ has a reggae undertone which floats along the crest of a Caribbean wave, it’s such a contrast to anything they’ve done before it takes a little adjusting.
The new tracks will need time to sit on their own merit within the new record, alongside the old favourites they seem on a different plain which isn’t necessarily a criticism but just they belong on a separate planet.
‘Your Light’ has the required elevation that promotes it to worthy set closer already. It’s big enough, it allows for audience participation, and soars as it should. This is all very encouraging.
If it sounds like this is in any way a negative review then it is only because that first record is so chock-a-block full of utter indie pop bangers that adjustments are required, their debut is that good.
Ultimately, it’s the pure joy coming off the stage that wins the day. Any apprehension they have at debuting new songs is cancelled out by the huge grins on display.
The new LP could take them to the next level and beyond, to the Big Universe.
