The rock quartet Moon Relay plays instrumental music that evokes hallucinations, dancing and thought forays into a fairy-tale world. In 2013 the band released a now long-sold-out 12-inch disc on the HUBRO label, and the following year their album debut on the Fysisk Format label received critical acclaim. With their new album, Full Stop Etc, they have returned to HUBRO with a record that takes the band in an even more creative and distinctive direction.
Repetitive music and noisy guitars
Moon Relay on this album consists of Daniel Meyer Grønvold, åvard Volden, Ola Høyer and Martin Smådal Larsen, all of whom are familiar names from what one could call Oslo’s noise, jazz and experimental rock scene. The members of the band also play with Jenny Hval, Cortex, Syntax TerrOrkester and Now We’ve got Members, and had played together in various constellations since 2006 before finally gathering around a drum machine, quite literally, and starting Moon Relay. The band gives them the opportunity to unite their interests in repetitive music, krautrock and electronic dance music with their abiding attraction to loud and noisy guitar playing.
Full Stop Etc is different from the group’s eponymous debut album in a number of ways. The tunes are shorter and more stringently arranged, and the band has opened doors to new rooms. The album was created to a greater extent in the studio this time. The musicians wanted to distance themselves somewhat from a classic “rock band in a room” sound. They wanted to take the liberty of making a more collage-like album. The album was recorded partially at Malabar Studio and partially at the band’s own home studio over a long period of time, and was mixed by noise musician and producer Lasse Marhaug. The result is a creative album that is both captivating and surprising, and that represents a significant extension of the band’s universe.
Full Stop Etc is available as a DL and as an LP with a printed inner sleeve.
