Moonbears - Four Sides For Red
(Coventry band)
by Pete Clemons
On Bandcamp
On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheMoonbears/
Quadrilaterals can be simple or complex. And this four sided double album is no exception. Thankfully, nothing on this record comes across as remotely anthemic. Neither are there any of those catchy hooks to draw you in.
Moonbears imaginations must have been working overdrive to dream this opus up. The strength of Four Sides For Red lies with the non standard and the unpredictable compositions. The emphasis of the tracks is placed on feel rather than technique. The album is choc full of improvisations yet, at the same time, no one appears to be at the centre of it all. This is a total group album.
Moonbears music swirls and flows between the feverish pulsing of jazz rock and a halcyon filled shade of pop. Grand sweeping melodies are bifurcated with saxophone and the dreamy ardour of unhurried keyboard.
If you are unable or unwilling to reconcile your traditional listening ideas then you might not get much out of this work of art. But open your mind a little and you will be rewarded greatly. It is an album that seems to challenge conventional song construction and adds loose improvisations and instrumentals. Sometimes at the same time. It is not a quick hit. It is more a slow release and needs to be absorbed.
Getting Four Sides For Red released has been a labour of love with love being the operative word. It has taken, what seems like an age, to get it into the wider world. Not least of all because of the pandemic. But love is a powerful thing and with it being a central and important theme to the albums completion they got there in the end. I suspect it contains some deeply personal lyrics but interpretations of words can take you in many directions
My take on Moonbears are that they are more than a band. They are a commitment. Chances are taken. They are not rock and roll, not jazz, not pop. Just music, intense music. The musicians involved seem to know instinctively what is required. You kind of get the most action with the least number of people. There appears to be no rules within the band, just different styles. They come across as free thinking with no boundaries. The music develops from many different areas. They are certainly comparable to nothing in these parts. The absolute opposite of homogeneous.
In conclusion, it takes a little self endeavour to get into Four Sides For Red. But the benefits are accessible to anyone who takes the time to listen to it. It is an album for the fullness of time to come and not simply for the moment.
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