Two highly creative songsters
Liverpool-based indie rock outfit Ernest Moon will be releasing their new album ‘Skipping to Maloo’ on June 15, offering us a preview of the lead single ‘Unkind’ in the meantime.
Ernest Moon is Steven Doran and Brian Murphy, two highly creative songsters with a gift for wisecracks and impactful one-liners, brought together by a liking for eggs on toast. They offer lush lyrics, heavy hands and a rat-arsed sincerity. Their sound has been described as pushy pop, “filling the gap between pretentious lyrical art and bog-standard pop music”.
This album was recorded and mixed in the past few years during lockdowns at Liverpool’s Ark Recording Studios by Steve Powell (Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band) and Rory Ballantyne. Their songs are as meandering in style and sound as their musical taste, drawing on influences such as The Blockheads, Arab Strap, Talking Heads and The Specials.
“The song ‘Unkind’ was born out of a chord progression that came to me over time. The mood of these chords and the sway of a slow 6/8 rhythm seemed to suggest the ardent theme and lyrics,” says Brian Murphy.
“The song starts with general statements we are told and subsequently live by. The later verse moves from the general to the personal and my own moods and desires. I wanted the chorus to be as simply written as possible. An innocent plea in a narcissistic age.”
Since forming in 2017, Ernest Moon has released two EPs, debuting with their ‘Ba-jesus’ EP, recorded at Orphan Recording in Dublin with Peter Ashmore and Gavin Glass(Paul Brady, John Grant, Lisa Hannigan, Mundy), followed by the electric crack 6-track collection entailed in the ‘UH’ EP, released in 2019 and recorded in Barcelona by Marc Antoli.
Previous to that, Brian and Steve supplied the guitars and words for a now-defunct band called Betty Backskuttle, a band they say was infamously vain and famously unfriendly.
Unkind’ may be obtained via Bandcamp, where the ‘Skipping to Maloo’ LP can also be pre-ordered. As of June 15, it will be available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music and Spotify.
Album pre-order / Bandcamp
https://ernestmoon.bandcamp.com/album/skipping-to-maloo-2
https://www.facebook.com/Ernestmoonmusic
https://twitter.com/ErnestMoonMusic
https://soundcloud.com/ernestmoon-244815177
