‘Lo Moon’ began as something of a mystery band who had been on the public radar for some time, but took a year or so to properly emerge from the shadows. Their gorgeous debut single ‘Loveless‘ came out in September 2016, and two more excellent singles, ‘This Is It‘ and ‘Thorns‘ emerged in 2017, but although it was well known that there was an album in the pipeline it was not until this February that it was finally released: titled simply ‘Lo Moon’, although it also has ‘LM1’ on the cover as if intended as the first of a ‘Led Zeppelin’ style numbered series.
The band was founded by singer/guitarist Matt Lowell, and also includes guitar/keyboardist Samuel Stewart, the son of former ‘Eurythmics’ guitar/keyboardist Dave Stewart, and Siobhan Fahey of ‘Bananarama’ and ‘Shakespear’s Sister’ fame. However, it qualifies for attention from ‘Hera Says’ because of female bassist Crisanta Baker, who also provides keyboards and backing vocals, along with Stewart. Officially that is all, since drummer Sterling Laws, does not seem to be regarded as a full member. Nevertheless, as he has been a long-standing presence, they are in effect a three piece plus one. Lowell does much of the songwriting, but the other two collaborate with him, and Baker is credited with co-writing three of the ten songs on the album.
The Night and Day Cafe gig – the first date on ‘Lo Moon’s’ British tour – was the first time we had seen them live, and given the amount of attention they have received during their rise, we were quite surprised to see them in such a small venue. Certainly, the place was packed. This was an unusually warm May, and it was soon very hot in the room, but the atmosphere was electric. The audience was rather different from many of the Indie gigs around the city, consisting mostly of 30 to 40 something couples, but one can see how that would be a market to whom ‘Lo Moon’s’ gentle rock and beautiful romanticism would particularly appeal.
The band were supported by ‘Boniface’, a four-piece from Winnipeg, Canada. They are an all-male outfit and so outside Hera’s remit, but they were good, and matched ‘Lo Moon’ themselves very well, without in any way being clones. Indeed, the only real similarity, was an air of slightly spacey gentleness, as seen, for example, in their song ‘I Will Not Return as a Tourist‘, albeit alternating with slightly heavier material, like ‘Phantom Limbs‘. For reasons that pass understanding, the very word ‘gentle’ is sometimes seen as a criticism when talking about a rock act, but that is nonsense. Indeed for music to show subtlety and beauty is a joy, not a failing and both bands are great exponents.
‘Lo Moon’ started off to great applause with ‘This Is It’ – which many would regard as their best song. They then worked through the rest of the album, with at least one cover version thrown in. Unlike some bands, though, they did not just slavishly follow the recorded versions of their songs, but put in enough variation to make each one fresh, however instantly recognisable. The bulk of the audience were clearly familiar with the album, so each song got an enthusiastic cheer of recognition. And the performances were flawless, even though Baker, in particular, looked nervous when they first came on.
The band saved the best till last with a glorious two-song encore. The first was an exquisite solo version of album closer ‘All In‘ – performed by Lowell sitting alone at a keyboard – and this was followed by the full band returning to the stage to play the hauntingly beautiful ‘Loveless‘. It was magical and a perfect end to a lovely evening.
Matt Lowell has a delicate – at times almost feminine – singing voice, whilst Boniface’s Micah Visser’s voice is similarly gentle, with an air of yearning. Both voices are vital to the two bands’ attractive sounds, but such voices are all too easily sabotaged by poor sound engineering. ‘Hera Says’ has been running something of a quiet campaign on this issue since its foundation. For there seems to be a tendency, especially in the smaller venues, to put quantity over quality in a big way. In other words, there is a tendency to try to make a gig’s overall volume as loud as the P.A. will allow, at the expense of the detailed sound balance. In such a battle, where a human voice is competing with electric instruments and amplified drums, it will always be the singer who looses, not least because vocal mikes feedback so easily if over amplified. Worse still, in trying to compete at all, singers can strain their voices which, at best, will make them sound far less musical and, at worst, may actually cause physical damage, especially if repeated night after night. Often, though, the degree to which the rest of a band needs to be mixed down to allow the vocals to shine is quite small, so that even the most volume-hungry crowd will hardly notice. What they will spot, however, is the dramatic improvement in the performance, which is surely what they really came to see. Whoever was on the mixing board for Lo Moon’s gig at the Night and Day Cafe understood this completely, and what a huge difference that made. The sound quality they gave us was superb, with every nuance of Lowell, Baker and Stewart’s singing clearly audible, and yet with the band as a whole still perfectly loud enough to please a rock audience. Well done; Hera applauds you and the gig was so much more enjoyable as a result.
Hera Says.
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Hera says I should be the star now 