The Seattle-based progressive/psychedelic rock band, Moon Letters, are back with their excellent third album, This Dark Earth. Following on from their last album, 2022’s Thank You From The Future, which I reviewed for The Progressive Aspect at the time, it is another dazzling amalgam of symphonic and heavy prog rock, psych, jazz fusion and touches of prog metal – mixing a retro ambience with contemporary elements. It is another wonderfully ambitious and challenging release that has something for everyone over its six diverse tracks – including a multi-faceted closing epic – with an underlying collective concept loosely linking them together.
Formed in 2016, the band’s line-up remains the same as both their 2019 debut release, Until They Feel The Sun and their last album, with Michael Trew on vocals, Dave Webb on guitars and John Allday on keyboards, ably supported by bassist Mike Murphy and Kelly Mynes on drums. They continue to be an amazingly tight outfit producing a remarkable synergy of prog/psych sound between them all.
Energy of the Heart starts the album deceptively gently with a relaxed drum beat over soft guitar and keyboard patterns, but then bursts into life, with heavy guitar pyrotechnics over sweeping keyboards and a dynamic, and ever-shifting, drum and bass rhythm, with Kelly and Mike working up a storm. Michael’s expressive vocals have a dark, intensity, accentuated by dramatic stabs of keyboards and guitar motifs. There is a dreamier interlude later, with soft harmonies, a melodic guitar solo from Dave and some proggy keyboard noodlings from John, through to the elegant conclusion. It is an engaging, suitably schizophrenic, opening track about an insomniac who gets absorbed into films and starts to blur the lines between them and reality.
I speak to you through the stone.
Death to the world, if all meaning is lost
See what you want, alone.”
Silver Dream tells the tale of a young couple in university. The man wants them to move in together but gets rejected – becoming haunted by dreams and running away. Guitar and synths intertwine in a stately opening, before a smoother, almost ballad-like, ambience to Michael’s vocals and some forceful guitar lines. Piano adds some restful tones, but this is soon washed over by some darker and intricate instrumentation and an undulating rhythm and a more melancholic feel to the lyrical imagery.
Visions calling, a silver dream
I’ve seen you, see me.”
The story continues with Island of Magic Mirrors. He goes to the city and is overwhelmed by stimuli and in confusion faces a near death experience. As on the last album, the lyrics have a poetic ‘stream of consciousness’ character, that complements the ever-changing musical themes, time signatures, tempo and mood. The track starts at a frantic pace, with pulsing guitar and drums, along with the melodic and expressive vocals and some nicely eclectic bass lines from Mike.
Neon and the city steam, burn an Icarus.
We are nothing more than creatures,
Creatures of the night.”
There is a refreshing switch of a more mysterious, dream-like tone, with some playful guitar and keyboard interplay, but with nightmarish, avant-garde elements, and the band even manages to ‘swing’ at times. The twists and turns continue, with Dave and John trading urgent call-and-response solos through to the vibrant, quirky ending. This is certainly ‘progressive’ music in the truest sense of the word.
Lonely Moon is a soothing, well-judged acoustic guitar-led interlude of calm, as our protagonist ponders his unresolved thoughts, with the music providing a pivot point to the tracks to come, with elegant bass notes and supporting synths to the wistful, melancholic arpeggios.
In The Catacombs is a return to the band’s heavier sound. A fragile soul unravels during a game that goes wrong, and the music reflects the changing emotions. Harmonised vocals mix with the raunchy swagger of classic rock-style guitar riffage from Dave, with John’s swirling keyboards dancing around them in a pleasing cacophony of instrumental complexity. Add some full-on, in your face, vocal power from Michael, and shifting syncopation from Mike and Kelly, and you have almost an AOR track on steroids that continually changes direction and stays fresh throughout.
The final track is the 3-part epic, Dawn of the Winterbird, and perhaps represents the band’s most ambitious composition ever. In many ways it is the most accessible and restrained track on the album, with some beautiful melodies and sumptuous vocals. Michael says that the lyrics are about the man, now in recovery, looks back on his childhood of insomnia and not fitting in, and the lengths he went to find his dreams, only to sacrifice what we would rather have had. He must leave a stifling community but fails to persuade his kindred spirit to leave. He must follow the path of a lost friend to find some form of healing. The lyrics are suitably elegiac and obscure, but are sprinkled over the instrumentation, to create a holistic allure.
i: I Am Not Afriad, is characterised by an infectious Latin American-type beat with Dave’s expressive guitar soloing building over a wash of keyboards, with shifting time signatures, as the personal quest begins.
Years that I have been frozen
Here, snow is on the sin
I can let you in.”
ii: Laughing Stream begins with the sound of running water and a dreamy guitar, flowing bass and soft, emotive vocals and harmonies weave a peaceful, contemplative atmosphere – effectively a heartfelt and pleading love song.
When you’re frozen slow,
But I’d rather be with you
Over a laughing stream
Is it another dream?
Falling asleep beside…”
John’s lush keyboards and then some more powerful and yearning guitar take the music through to the final section, iii. The Portal, which by contrast begins in a burst of dynamism, before alternating between sections of pastoral calm punctuated by driving heavy prog ensemble playing. A lyrical piano break one minute and then some dynamic guitar power chords and stabs of keyboards the next. Mike’s bass and Kelly’s drums reflect this shift in fraught emotion, as our protagonist realises the future path to healing, he must take.
I need you here beside me.
Don’t let them take your eyes
I need you to see mine…”
The powerful and cathartic instrumental finale, with Dave’s soaring guitar notes, John’s rippling synths and the band’s vocal harmonies is deeply moving and ends the track and album well.
With This Dark Earth, Moon Letters have produced a powerful musical statement of light and shade, with rich sweeping, symphonic panoramas mixing with vigorous heavy prog and rock with eclectic psychedelic elements to continually capture the listener’s attention. The spirit of the classic 70s prog rock permeates much of the musical soundscape, but it is brightly illuminated with fresh, contemporary influences. Twisting, full blown, virtuosic complexity is juxtaposed with simpler musical structures and an array of expressive vocal styles, have created an ambitious and challenging album that continually surprises and captivates you as the emotional, personal and cinematic musical and lyrical journey unfolds. Well worth exploring further, if you are looking for something refreshingly different in your prog!
TRACK LISTING
01. Energy of the Heart (6:28)
02. Silver Dream (6:38)
03. Island of Magic Mirrors (5:58)
04. Lonely Moon (2:10)
05. In The Catacombs (4:32)
06. Dawn of the Winterbird (17:18)
– i. Am Not Afraid
– ii. Laughing Stream
– iii. The Portal
Total Time – 43:04
MUSICIANS
John Allday – Keyboards, Vocals, Trumpet
Mike Murphy – Bass, Vocals
Kelly Mynes – Drums, Percussion
Michael Trew – Lead Vocals, Flute, Congas
Dave Webb – Guitars, Percussion
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Country of Origin: USA
Date of Release: 13th June 2025
LINKS
Moon Letters – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | Instagram
