Album Review: The Big Moon - ‘Walking Like We Do’

“I’m just waiting for the piano to fall,” states Juliette Jackson in the opening song ‘It’s Easy Then’ of The Big Moon’s second album. As if the past three years since their Mercury Nominated debut have been an absolute whirlwind of too-good-to-be-true moments and almost as if they’re waiting for the penny to drop in a way that makes them face a thought that it is all going to slow down; disappear; have been a dream. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe it really is easy for some people! The synth-laden number serves as a drawing board to which the rest album returns to, and the band’s foray into more synthesised sounds is most definitely a welcome one.

If you follow The Big Moon on any of their socials, you’ll be aware of their specific kind of humour. Things that are so peculiar that you find yourself being amused at, despite not really having any context to the situation. Whilst ‘Walking Like We Do’ is littered with a plethora of joyous pop sounds that morph into anthemic hints of R&B, and avant-garde disco; it is undeniable that the backbone of it all is the witty and bemusing lyrics. Expressed from the perspective of disaffected millennials who have to exist in such a turbulence world, Jackson’s lyrics provide respite from a wealth of negativity and arouse the thought that maybe there’s nothing we can all do except get on with it until the bitter end.

‘Dog Eat Dog’ is a misanthropic tale about how sometimes the truth can be withheld to the detriment, and misleading, of others: “they say it’s dog eat dog, but it’s more like pigeon eating fried chicken on the street.” More obscurely insightful quips that come with purpose can be found in ‘Holy Roller’ and ‘Your Light’. The former is built upon a chugging guitar riff that is offset by twinkling synths which hark back to the exploratory period of Alex Turner where he was caught between The Last Shadow Puppets and the latest iteration of Arctic Monkeys. The latter finds itself being rather direct in its swaggering pop delivery of the spectacular line: “We just hang around like a haircut growing out. This planet never needed gravity to drag you down.”

Lyrically, there is an honest portrayal of despair, and Jackson uses humour to ensure that things are never a drag. Songs like ‘Why’ and ‘Waves’ are quite obviously about realising that something important is coming to an end, but the juxtaposing mood of instrumentation make the dire circumstances less of a prominent feature. ‘Why’ bounces back and forth in a funk-laden way, similar to ‘Your Light’ but there is a sleekness within the song that is reminiscent of Haim’s most recent album. Continuing the slinky sleekness whilst finding the perfect balance between sprechgesang in the verses, and Bowie-esque howls in the chorus is ‘Don’t Think’ – a whirlwind of a song that has elements of funk, disco and Blondie-era pop, making it one of the best songs on the entire album, by a mile. 

The Big Moon may be faking it until they make it by walking like they do, but you cannot help but be fooled when they’re doing it this well. 

Words by Tyler Damara Kelly

Catch The Big Moon lives at the following dates:

9th January: Kingston Banquet Records - Pryzm (w/ Easy Life)
10th January: London Rough Trade East 
11th January: Bexhill Music’s Not Dead - De La Warr Pavilion
12th January: Brighton Resident
13th January: Southsea Pie & Vinyl
13th January: Marlborough Sound Knowledge
14th January: Bristol Rough Trade
15th January: Nottingham Rough Trade
16th January: Sheffield Bear Tree Records 
16th January: Leeds Crash Records – Headrow House

20th January – Cambridge Corn Exchange (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
21st January – Bournemouth O2 Academy (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
23rd January - Leicester De Montford Hall (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
24th January - Cardiff University (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
25th January – Leeds O2 Academy (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
27th January - Newcastle O2 Academy (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
28th January - Glasgow Barrowland (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
29th January – Glasgow Barrowland (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
31st January - Birmingham O2 Academy 1 (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
1st February - Brighton Centre (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
3rd February – Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
4th February – Sheffield O2 Academy (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
6th February – Norwich The LCR, UEA (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
7th February – London Alexandra Palace (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
10th February - Dublin Vicar Street (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
11th February - Dublin Vicar Street (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
12th February - Belfast Ulster Hall (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)

HEADLINE TOUR
27th February – Bristol The Fleece
28th February – Liverpool O2 Academy 2
29th February – Edinburgh Summerhall Arts Centre
2nd March – Nottingham Contemporary
3rd March – Oxford O2 Academy 2
4th March – London Oslo – Annie Mac Presents
9th March - Paris Le Point Ephémère
10th March – Cologne MTC
11th March – Berlin Privatclub
13th March – Amsterdam Paradiso
14th March – Antwerp Trix Bar