Releasing a full album is an ambitious project for anyone, but a double concept EP complete with horn arrangements is going above and beyond. That’s what Halifax’s Shadow is doing, with a stark contrast between night and day on her upcoming releases The Dark and The Dawn, and she’s bridged the two by a mighty sense of funk. Though having quietly trickled out a couple of tunes, our first real listen is this single for “Moon,” a horn-powered track that asks all the big questions.
Bethany Fulde, best known for her musical contributions in This Ship and Minus World, describes her latest efforts as neo-soul. Fulde hammers on as she forcefully riddles us with a raw tumble of questions. She’s unrelenting, with each line rolling out in a frenzy that quickly spirals to a crescendo built on a wave of saxophones. Despite asking one of the most human of questions, the delivery of the song is almost animalistic, performed as part of some mindless hedonistic ritual designed to strip you of everything except your ability to dance.
Combining the efforts of both Charles Austin at Echo Chamber Studios & Kyle Varley at Frameworks Productions, along with some of Halifax’s best musicians, Shadow’s double EP took over two years to produce. “Moon” only came at the very tail end of the process.
“I actually started the recording process for this project two and a half years ago,” says Fulde. “‘Moon’ came to me after I had already recorded a good chunk of the tunes at a time when I was trying to figure out which of my tunes I wanted to be on these albums.”
When the song came to her Fulde was still trying to sort out the track placements that would balance out her dawn/dark dichotomy, and naturally asking herself where anything really fits in the universe.
“The song is based on an existential ‘why’ of life. How our emotions get set on repeat throughout our lives. How our life, humanity, society often repeats itself,” explains Fulde.
“When writing the tune, I was spiraling out on these big questions. Do animals ask ‘why’? Are we to know our purpose in life? At the end of the day, the moon just repeats its phases. Pulls on the tides. And we are mostly made up of water, so we must be effected by these cycles in some way, shape, or form, right?”
And just like that, soul music got a shot in the arm. Everything old eventually gets made new again, but blessed are those who make room for saxophones.
Shadow’s double EP, the dark // the dawn in expecting release in March, 2019.
Tour Dates:
11.29.18 – Halifax, NS @ Mod Mansion
12.05.18 – Halifax, NS @ Gus’ Pub & Grill