Album Review: The Big Moon – Love In The 4th Dimension
Love In The 4th Dimension
Released April 7th 2017
Words: Lewis Rogers
After being one of Britain’s biggest buzz bands since 2014, London’s The Big Moon have finally unveiled their long awaited debut album Love In The 4th Dimension. Being a fan of their singles and EP and having seen one of their excellent live shows, I was hugely excited to get my hands on this release so I headed to Rise Records in Bristol to pick up a copy on vinyl and see the girls perform live again in store. With all the hype surrounding this record, I’m happy to say it exceeded my already high expectations.
The album really shines a light on why The Big Moon have attracted such a vocal and dedicated following over the past three years, showcasing the best of their previously released singles as well as songs newly recorded for this record. As you would expect from its title, the themes of romance and relationships run all the way through the album with infatuation, heartbreak and regret all getting their time in the spotlight. Fittingly, it opens with a reworked version of the band’s first single Sucker, which highlights how much more confident and polished the girls’ music has become since its first incarnation. Other older favourites, all present and correct, include the joyous Silent Movie Susie, which I would point to as being the quintessential The Big Moon track, latest single Formidable and Cupid. The new tracks make just as strong of an impression, with instant earworm Pull The Other One, the powerful and angrier Bonfire and the titular track itself being the highlights. These newer tracks have been memorable parts of the band’s live sets for a while too so it’s fantastic to finally hear recorded versions of these songs, especially when their choruses have been stuck in my head since I saw the band play months ago! The only weak point is the inclusion of closing song The End. It’s a nice song in its own right but following on from the sunny highs of the other tracks it does bring the mood of the album down somewhat.
As an indie devotee, I disagree with naysayers who are quick to point to the supposed death of the genre and Love In The 4th Dimension proves them wrong. Although influence from nineties and noughties indie is present throughout and, using an admittedly overused comparison, Jules Jackson’s husky and characterful vocals are often reminiscent of Sleeper icon Louise Wener, The Big Moon manage to take a sound that could easily sound tired and repetitive and have revitalised it with their own fresh spin. By the way if you’re reading this, Jules, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing that comparison, but coming from a Britpop geek like me there is no greater compliment!
It’s always a concern that bands who attract so much hype will ultimately fail to deliver during their big moment, but this is certainly not the case with The Big Moon. With Love In The 4th Dimension, the band have propelled themselves to the forefront of the UK’s indie scene. The girls have more than proved that the buzz surrounding them was justified, and have created a first class gem of a debut that’s a blast of feel good joy from start to finish.
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