Album of harmonious, power pop from a band at the top of their game.
It’s 30 years since Nada Surf released their debut single, ‘The Plan’/’Telescope’. Newly signed to New West Records, ‘Moon Mirror’ is the band’s first long player for over four years, their longest gap between records. It was recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales. Matthew Caws, the group’s lead singer, wrote many of the songs in the early morning when he found himself in a positive mental state.
The album opens with the high energy level ‘Second Skin’, which gallops along. Caws has admitted that he is “addicted to double-tracking vocals”. On this record Caws decided to keep it simple and the harmonies work well. There’s not an obvious thread that runs through this record. Caws says, “Every time we make an album, I’m asked (and ask myself) what it’s about. I never know how to answer that question”. However, certain themes are returned, to be they acceptance, a willingness to change, or a consideration of one’s mortality. ‘Moon Mirror’ reflects at least one of these with Caws singing, ‘Make me an engine, A part of something somewhere, Moon mirror, Highways of hope, Moon mirror’.
The beginning of ‘Losing’ sounds like it could have been the opening of a track on Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Bandwangonesque’. The song was written by friend of Nada Surf and longtime collaborator, Louie Lino, who says, “‘Losing’ was originally written during a particularly down day as a list of all the things getting older robs from you. Friends lost, loves lost, time lost, but mostly, possibilities and how that makes you feel. But Matthew’s hopeful bridge brings back some perspective.”
‘New Propeller’ was written many years ago, when Trump was running for president, as Caws puts it “Trump was a new propellor churning up the water”. The song opens with the ominous lines ‘There’s a new propeller, Churning up our days, There’s a whirlpool spinning, Digging us our graves’. However, the chorus offers some optimism as Caws sings, ‘Don’t be afraid, You won’t be replaced, Don’t be afraid, You won’t be erased’.
The album closes with ‘Floater’, it’s a song about knowing yourself and trying to minimise the impact on the world around you. Caws says the title came from the fact that at school he wasn’t in any particular group and “floated” between different cliques.
This is a great power pop album with echoes of The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub, which is quite possibly the best of the band’s career.
Fantastic review!
Damn fine album, remember those?