Recommended: Moonbow – “When The Sleeping Fish Turn Red And The Skies Start To Sing In C Major I Will Follow You Till The End”

This is an album with more emotion than its heart can contain.  And it’s a big heart we’re talking about, one that beats with a pulse of bold pronouncements, of majestic imagery, and of melodic cries that radiate all kinds of power and sincerity, and this is true whether cooed gently or shouted up to the skies.  The septet Moonbow comes out strong on their debut album, showing a controlled ferocity while roaming free and wild through wide open fields of genres and influences and forms of expression.

And, yet, even with all of the changes on When The Sleeping Fish Turn Red And The Skies Start To Sing In C Major I Will Follow You Till The End, there’s hidden within each tune a simple song and a sense of something traditional.  “Start to Sing” woozily drawls out some blues and “Fish” breaks into an interlude that hints at a bop theme burrowing underneath all of the loose play with tempo and disregard for the permanence of structure.  Or how about the drum solo that stops the huge wave of dissonance on “In C Major” in its tracks, and shifts the tonal qualities from anthemic indie-rock howls to the thoughtful ruminations of a late night jazz club.

But even with that thought in mind, this is music that reveres the voice that holds nothing back.

This is one of the most exciting albums I’ve heard all this year.

Your album personnel:  Danielle Dahl (alto sax), Mads Egetoft (tenor sax), Maciek Kadziela (alto sax), Lucas Leidinger (piano), Anton Jansson (guitar), Tomo Jacobson (double bass) and Kresten Osgood (drums).

Released on ILK Music.

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Soundcloud page.  Also, on Bandcamp.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic