Montreal four-piece Half Moon Run stormed onto the Canadian indie scene back in 2012 with their debut full-length Dark Eyes. Now, they're ready to follow it up with Sun Leads Me On, which will arrive on October 23 via Indica/Universal in Canada and Glassnote/Universal in the rest of the world.
The new material was written between their hometown of Montreal and a surfing getaway to California, though recording took place at Ontario's Bathouse Studios with acclaimed UK producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Adele). And while the new set of songs "largely eschews the alt-folk melancholia" of Dark Eyes, it does hear the band conveying concepts of beauty and honesty through unique instrumentation, classical arrangements and dark lyrics propelled by pulsating synths.
Sun Leads Me On was written after two years of exhausting touring and adapting to life in the band. "We had this beautiful thing, this wonderful chance, but we were also working our way through a lot of darkness, losing lots of friends, struggles at home, losing our sense of home, trying to let the music guide us but having trouble even finding that," said multi-instrumentalist Dylan Phillips in a press release. "There was a lot of strife in it all, but at the same time the sun just kept pulling us forward, and we just kept pushing forward and trying to find beauty in what we do."
In addition to announcing the new record, the band have shared a sampling of the new sound in the form of lead track "Trust," and Exclaim! has got the exclusive Canadian premiere of the new track.
"'Trust' is somewhat of a strange song," said Phillips. "It's a departure from what you might normally expect from us. It's the last song we wrote and recorded, and it was put together with a lot of fragmented ideas and somewhat of a chaotic energy. It feels a little bit like starting from the end, but leaves plenty of room to work back towards the beginning."
Scroll past the tracklisitng for Sun Leads Me On to hear it for yourself.
Sun Leads Me On:
1. Warmest Regards
2. I Can't Figure Out What's Going On
3. Consider Yourself
4. Hands in the Garden
5. Turn Your Love
6. Narrow Margins
7. Sun Leads Me On
8. It Works Itself Out
9. Everybody Wants
10. Throes
11. Devil May Care
12. The Debt
13. Trust
The new material was written between their hometown of Montreal and a surfing getaway to California, though recording took place at Ontario's Bathouse Studios with acclaimed UK producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Adele). And while the new set of songs "largely eschews the alt-folk melancholia" of Dark Eyes, it does hear the band conveying concepts of beauty and honesty through unique instrumentation, classical arrangements and dark lyrics propelled by pulsating synths.
Sun Leads Me On was written after two years of exhausting touring and adapting to life in the band. "We had this beautiful thing, this wonderful chance, but we were also working our way through a lot of darkness, losing lots of friends, struggles at home, losing our sense of home, trying to let the music guide us but having trouble even finding that," said multi-instrumentalist Dylan Phillips in a press release. "There was a lot of strife in it all, but at the same time the sun just kept pulling us forward, and we just kept pushing forward and trying to find beauty in what we do."
In addition to announcing the new record, the band have shared a sampling of the new sound in the form of lead track "Trust," and Exclaim! has got the exclusive Canadian premiere of the new track.
"'Trust' is somewhat of a strange song," said Phillips. "It's a departure from what you might normally expect from us. It's the last song we wrote and recorded, and it was put together with a lot of fragmented ideas and somewhat of a chaotic energy. It feels a little bit like starting from the end, but leaves plenty of room to work back towards the beginning."
Scroll past the tracklisitng for Sun Leads Me On to hear it for yourself.
Sun Leads Me On:
1. Warmest Regards
2. I Can't Figure Out What's Going On
3. Consider Yourself
4. Hands in the Garden
5. Turn Your Love
6. Narrow Margins
7. Sun Leads Me On
8. It Works Itself Out
9. Everybody Wants
10. Throes
11. Devil May Care
12. The Debt
13. Trust
