REVIEW: Moon Fever’s new (Single/Video) “Shaking Off The Evil”
Both textured and in possession of a dirty melody as resonant with the narrative as any of the vocal delivery ever could be, the guitar parts in Moon Fever’s new single/video combo “Shaking Off The Evil” are certainly a commanding force to be reckoned with. Split between two factions in two different channels of our headphones, the string play we hear in this track is undisputedly as potent as it gets, but as powerful as it is, it’s still not the centerpiece of “Shaking Off The Evil.” Moon Fever haven’t been in the spotlight for very long, but already they’re working hard to make sure there isn’t any question as to whether or not they can insert a lot of true emotionality into their music — and not just through pop-savvy lyrics alone.
SMART URL : https://lnk.to/ShakingOffTheEvil
As charming as I find the instrumentation to be, there’s no shaking the fact that “Shaking Off The Evil” is in fact a vocal-driven single. The voice that bellows from beneath the blanket of overdrive and melodic churning is absolutely the primary linchpin in this composition, and although it’s supported by a grand backing band, I don’t think this would be quite the same song if you were to put a different singer behind the microphone. It’s a signature piece, a statement release if you will, and by all critical measurements a defining moment that tells us most everything we need to know about how this group is going to go about writing and recording their upcoming work.
The music video for “Shaking Off The Evil” is a splendid document if you like the rustic feel of vintage blues-rock melded with an alternative aesthetic sourced in the Seattle grunge that predated this new millennium, but I wouldn’t call it a straight-retro piece of material at all. There’s nothing overwhelmingly intellectual about its imagery, but there’s definitely a sense of deeper, unspoken truths being shared with us in the connectivity between audio and visual stimulation here. It’s the thinker’s rock n’ roll for sure, and definitely something that has the potential to cause quite a bit of chaos if it catches any sort of momentum from mainstream audiences before the year has come to a conclusion.
Rock fans who prefer evocative sonic poeticisms to the raw chest-beaters of yesteryear really need to give Moon Fever’s new single and its music video a close look this summer, mostly just to find out why they’re joining a pool of the most talked-about indie artists to make waves in 2020. There’s a big void near the top of the rock hierarchy at the moment that was once filled by some of the greatest giants to have ever entered the game, but something tells me it isn’t going to remain vacant for very long. Independent players like these are ensuring that the 2020s are going to be a lot more exciting for rockers than the 2010s were, and if you follow the genre, you know this is absolutely not a small statement to make.
Colin Jordan
