From their second EP inside of six months, Halifax’s Moonwake pull two tracks for a double live video performance. ‘Participation’ and ‘Bronze’ are both slightly broken-down versions from the band’s February release, the very thematic Placement EP.
The whole EP feels like a victory lap. It’s as though Moonwake polled the audience for an exercise in song-writing, and when they arrived at some agreeable subject matter told them all to hold their collective beers while they sprinted through a whole EPs worth of material. It’s a convenient place for the band to show off. You want a song about medals? Here’s four. And by the way, they’re soaked in a deliciously mellow groove.
“Honestly, there’s no story behind the concept of it, but coincidentally the release of the album fell during the Winter Olympics, which was also a weird chance timing that we did not plan at all. We started writing it in September without knowledge of the Olympics going on, aside from the drama that the NHL wasn’t sending players,” explains vocalist Sean Clancey.
“That could have played a subconscious role in the theme however. Braden [Nelson] (keys, bass) gave me four songs to write vocals for and it was the first idea to pop into my head. I always wanted to write a bit on participation medals, so this gave me a platform to write about that. Each song essentially addresses that the participant wasn’t good enough. Even with Gold, the win is mired in doubt and speculation that the winner did so falsely. I could probably dig deep into the lyrics with my psychologist about how they represent my own lack of self-esteem, and the feeling of never being good enough or up to the standard that I feel society sets upon us.”
The live video, shot by Charlie Benoit, demonstrates what a tightly honed team Moonwake have become, especially in light of recent changes in the band’s roster. Moonwake retained James Shaw on sax, who hard previously been hired for their Be Still EP back in August of 2017, and he “just sort of just stuck around.” The band have also traded drummer Teddy Skiffington since the recording of Placement for Ben Leatham.
“But Braden and Adam did most of the recording instrument-wise,” says Clancey.
The changes contributed to what Clancey describes as the band’s evolution towards a darker sounds.
“We’re all pretty open and cheerful people who gel together quite well musically. The addition of Ben is awesome because he has played in metal bands with our bassist Mike, so there was chemistry right off the bat. Our music has thrown most of us out of our comfort zones, so it’s funny to see where we’re finding each other at different parts of our set.
The next EP that we have on the go is entirely different from Placement. Braden takes care of the initial writing, and has given each of us more leeway to write, so Scott Nicks is writing a full string section for one of the songs, and Mike has recorded bass already for it, and Ben will bring an entirely different flare than Teddy brought with Placement. Adam [Ritchie] (guitar) will continue his thing, and so will James [Shaw] (saxophone).”
The band are currently fining finalizing demos for their third release which we should expect later this summer.
In the meantime you can catch Moonwake peforming at The Seahorse in Halifax with Pallice, mal/amié, and Nomadic Homes on April 19th, 2018.