Mixing dream psych with a krautrock rhythm, while keeping their ‘live’ ethos Melbourne band Romeo Moon have created one of the most stunningly understated local records we’ve heard all year.
Titled Wander, the six track release came about quite organically, as member Kevin Orr explains the release was “spontaneous creation that stemmed from having a coffee with Producer Simon Cotter (Courtney Barnett’s engineer), booking time in a studio with literally no material written, no band and no real expectation. In saying this I knew I wanted to put out a record that reflected a certain time or shift in my life.”
To celebrate the released of the Wander, Kevin Orr have given us a track by track run down of the record which you can read (and stream) below. If you like what you hear you can pick up a copy of Wander via Romeo Moon’s Bandcamp and be sure not to miss these guys when they play this July and August, dates and info below.
Tune In Tune Out
The opening track of ‘Wander’ was almost a test of patience (for us and the listener) the track goes for 6:29 but was intended to set the mood for the record, raw and real. The record was tracked in its entirety so if you messed up a take you would have to start at the start again. The track slowly opens up and plays on a lot of dynamic and Electronic Music structures. The bridge extends to draw you in with a tension bar towards the end to drop out to a single Guitar and the first introduction of the Bass at 4:55.
‘Tune In Tune Out’ is a very visual track, the whole record was intended for vinyl and the Artwork was a very important element. The idea was you put this first song on and just get lost in the detail of Jason Galea and Hannah Ryan’s Artwork. It’s a record that plays off the romantic idea of you just taking 30 minutes out of the busyness of Digital Modern life and getting lost in something that’s not afraid to be imperfect and human.
Make You Feel
Stemmed from a riff our Guitarist William had conjured up in his shack down in The Mornington Peninsula. I remember him playing the riff and instantly there was a melody and subject matter rattling in my head.
When it was time for rehearsal both Simon and Luke hit it with a bit of a blues swing to really drive the track. The song was developing a bit of a swagger so the idea was to really layer the rhythm in the studio with percussion and a piano overdub inspired by ‘The Stooges- I Wanna Be Your Dog’. Although we aren’t as cool as ‘The Stooges’ it was a lot of fun hitting a note continuously on a piano.
River
Take a breath. A bit of a change of pace. If you listen closely you can even hear a bit of woodwind.
River began as a short story I was writing one sleepless night. I extracted key lines from the story to create a visual song about struggling for control in your life. I’ll let the lyrics do the talking but musically the idea was to really build dynamically as the song becomes more and more alarming. The Music grows and is quite urgent and chaotic rhythmically towards the end. The percussive layering idea was inspired by a track off of the ‘There Will Be Blood’ Soundtrack, a composition by Jonny Greenwood called ‘Convergence’.
Lunatic Lovers
Was actually the first song written for the project. It was a song I first played to Luke and William one twisted night before we talked about playing in a band together. The track is quite a personal song and holds an important moment noted eternally.
The lyrics came about in my mid Twenties when I was having a Musical lull and a bit of a Mental breakdown. It was after writing this song that I felt I could talk to people about how I felt, it seems a lot of people have a bit of a melt mid Twenties and it is perfectly normal to feel this way.
Musically I love the bridge in this song. It builds nicely with the piano and vocal layering. I also love the atmospheric loop that you hear throughout. It was created by hitting various objects such as glasses, cymbals, piano keys. pots and pans all running through loop pedals through a Fender Twin recorded to tape and slowed down 50%. A great idea mustered up by our good friend Simon Cotter.
Afterglow
This track actually came about one day when I was at work taking out the trash. The melody came to me out of no where and just echoed the whole day. I soon got home and arranged the chord progression, I wasn’t really thinking of words at this stage but soon after while I was cleaning up some things I came across my Nana’s funeral program. It included a Poem titled ‘Afterglow’. The song then became a hybrid song that could be related to saying goodbye to a loved one.
The track was recorded live in order to catch a mood.
Come With Me
Stemmed from a riff William had and was arranged as a Band literally the night before we went in to Bakehouse Studios. We had no idea whether this song would make the record but we are all so glad that it all came together in the end as it is one of our favourite tracks collectively.
It’s a track that feels very troubled but sonically sounds real together and quite original.
Like the rest of ‘Wander’ none of the songs were Demoed so it was real interesting hearing everything back for the first time. It was also a challenging experience as Musician’s as we literally had 8 rehearsals and 10 days to record all the tracks. We recorded 8 tracks during the ‘Wander’ sessions including 2 B-Sides that you get as a bonus download when you purchase the Record from our Bandcamp.
Upcoming Shows
Jul 4th | Exit Strategy Studios
Brunswick, VIC
Aug 4 | Little & Olver
Fitzroy, VIC
