Idle Moon ‘NOMAD’
The complete chronicles of life—from the emergence of consciousness to its extinction—unravels in an intricate slow-burn. Like Big Bang Theory in a nut-shell, fast forward to the apocalypse, Idle Moon’s Nomad is the history of the universe in an album. With laid-back soulfulness weaving into eclectic sonic palette; Nomad sees tragedy, innocence, love and spirit become entangled and grow into a delicate yet epic sound story.
“The Endless Nothing” takes us back to the very beginning—the sweet nothing. Spontaneity meets free spirit in a sonic vacuum. Captivatingly hypnotic backdrop layered with instrumental solo, “The Endless Nothing” returns to the spacious, primal default. Just floating, without rules, expectations, emotions or restriction. Intelligence before its awakening.
The experimental and improvisational aspect of Nomad at this point reminds of Radiohead, but moving along, its sonic palette and dynamics lean toward The Smile.
A touch of jazz percussion signals the acceleration of things. Evolution in a booming stage coming to your ears in wah-wah pedals and gleaming pads. The sounds explode in “Time Keeps Moving,” creating a vivid, palpable experience. “The Long Survival” is a mixture of desert blues, rock n roll, jazz, funk, retro and electronic. The eclectic track continues the intensification process, reaching the pivotal “Blindly Running Toward the Ocean.”
“Blindly Running Toward the Ocean” is a precious moment in the album. A sense of playfulness, beaming with soft delight, the soundscapes in the track taste like excitement and happiness, taking shape in a younger spirit, the once was, the no longer be, before the world smoothens its edge. “Blindly Running Towards the Ocean” reminds you everything about the childhood you, the taste of pure joy and first love, before “Floating in Plastic” and “Death of the Species” breaks your heart.
In a melancholy, meandering groove, “Floating in Plastic” sends out the first sign of extinction approaching. Very quietly. The characters in the story turn a blind eye on what’s happening, heading toward their inevitable ends. Like river that flows. Until the alarm of the end sets off. “Death of the Species” feels like a requiem, in which violence and wars are the wild-spread disease that quickly wipe out the entire civilization. We mourn for the dead, but it’s too late. Except saying goodbye in sorrow and peace, there’s nothing left to save.
Nomad is like a great book that has you invested in the story and care about the characters but breaks your heart in the end. It’s not a dark record, but it is very cruel. You’ll get your heart broken listening to Nomad, but in the end, when the pain goes away, it’s the beautiful moments and meaningful memories that linger in your heart. Nomad is memorable and deeply moving. You just can’t help but going back to the very beginning just to remember the curiosity, joy and love you experienced. You can skip the tragic end, of course, but it’s tragedy that makes these moments even more precious.
Punk Head: I love the unique blend of sounds and influences in Nomad. How did everything come together?
Idle Moon: I had been playing around with some different ideas of how to approach writing a new instrumental record and recording some ideas that I had been working on. At the time I was listening to a lot of The Budos Band and Mulatu Astatke. Bands like that. I approached some musicians that I had in mind for the project and was very humbled when they said they would be happy to join the group. We started rehearsing and worked through some of the ideas and the music grew very organically from there. I find that when you’re writing songs, no matter what your vision is, eventually the music takes on its own life and you just have to follow it where it wants to go. The process was quite quick. We rehearsed for a month or two and then the album was recorded live to tape in one day.
PH: Which song(s) from the album do you think best represents your artistic vision?
Idle Moon: I think probably the track “Blindly Running Towards the Ocean” best suits what the original vision was. I’m quite happy with how that track in particular turned out. That had a lot to do with John Raham from Afterlife Studios who recorded and mixed the album. I told him we only wanted to use a four track tape machine for the record and he got some pretty wild sounds considering the limitations we gave him.
PH: What has been one of the highlights of your music career so far?
Idle Moon: I’ve spent most of my musical life playing as a side man in other peoples projects. I’ve been lucky enough to have played some amazing places and even to meet some of my heroes. But honestly, and this may sound corny, the highlight for me is getting to spend time and play music with the great musicians and friends that I have made, and am lucky enough to play with on a regular basis. It means a lot to me.
PH: Who would you most like to collaborate with, if it could be anyone in the world?
Idle Moon: Oh geez. Pretty much anybody! I’d love to collaborate with any of the folks at Daptone. They’re pretty big heroes of mine. John Scofield, Brian Eno…The list goes on.
PH: How is the music scene in British Columbia?
Idle Moon: I now live on a small acerage in central BC but I lived in Vancouver for about 18 years and the musical community there is great. The landscape has changed hugely since I first moved there compared to now, just as far as access to venues, rehearsal spaces and the difficulties that arise when living in an expensive city. But regardless of all that, the musical community there is very close. It’s a great group of people and being a small part of it has led me to some of my closest friendships. I’m very grateful to live where I do.
