Admittedly a fairly uninspiring album title, but what’s inside is much more creative. Sort of. The former duo, made up of Wooden Shjips’ Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada produce a sound that is rooted in early seventies Krautrock culture – a nice throwback, but hardly breaking the mould.
So Moon Duo don’t do anything new on album number three but they don’t do anything wrong either. They’ve altered their rhythm with the inclusion of drummer John Jeffery, not something immediately noticeable as you can easily mistake Jeffery for a drum-machine set to a pre-determined pattern for 4-6 minutes on each track. On occasions it detracts from the disfigured and reverb heavy guitar work that is admirably unorthodox.
Shadow of the Sun can feel like one giant 43 minute composition and it’s a record that is unlikely to win any new fans. However, those returning and hoping to experience a familiarity in line with the past two Moon Duo releases are sure to be pleased. Cut from the same cloth as Mazes and Circles, albeit slightly more cleaned up. It’s undoubtedly chaotic, but maybe that’s the point of it all.
Shadow of the Sun is out now via Sacred Bones