Poor Moon: Poor Moon
Poor Moon: Poor Moon- It may be cliche to say, but it must be said anyway. Summer is coming to an end, and with it comes a longing for change, for something different. After the first listen to Poor Moon’s self titled album, I knew that I had found it; the musical equivalent to the seasons changing, to anything changing, really. Christian Wargo, Casey Wescott and Ian and Peter Murray are Poor Moon. Hailing from Seattle, Christian and Casey have successfully established Poor Moon as a side project, while still full-fledged members of Fleet Foxes.
With their self titled debut album, Poor Moon proves they are a lot more than a side project; they actualize a perfect mixture between romanticism and realism. There is a subtle sadness ingrained in Christian’s voice, inherent regardless of the subject matter. Yet, conversely, he manages to extend his thoughtful range to elicit a simpler, more effortless time. One of my favorite lyrics of this album comes from the song ‘Bucky Pony:’ “I want to hear your voice completely, separated from the noise.”
Poor Moon grabs you immediately and throws you into a very intense listening experience. ‘Clouds Below,’ the album opener, has such an undeniably simplistic melody that it can be easy to miss the depth of illusion unraveled in the song on the first listen. The intrinsic chorus gently professes: “grey sky moving like a river flows, bright star flickers and the blue moon glows, but they’re up so high nobody knows, underneath the clouds on the ground below.” ‘Holiday’ has a breezy quality, a milieu that transports you, give you the perfect distraction from life, “gotta get away because you waited far too long, needed time to listen to your favorite song.”
A real dichotomy can be felt while listening to the album as a whole. Not to categorize Poor Moon on a severe platitude, but the sheer repetitive nature warrants at least a mention. The age-old opposition is ascertainable between life and death, light and dark, heaven and hell, etc. So many of the songs talk about the light, and clouds, and one is even named ‘Heaven’s Door.’ Versus ‘Phantom Light,’ which speaks about death: “but candle fire by the dead man’s chair, so strange, wonder how it burns that way.” Happily, like real life, Poor Moon points out that everything is not black and white: “one day you will say the right words, same as I remember, speak to me, I’m coming home.” Poor Moon creates so many different levels, whether you unaffectedly have it on in the background of your day, or you delve into the actual meaning of the songs, or rather what they mean to you, it is nearly impossible not to enjoy this album…9.4/10