New Moon is the second artist album of Tel Aviv-born Berlin-based Maayan Nidam. She's previously released her tracks on relatively small but influential labels such as Perlon, Freak n' Chic, and Wolf + Lamb to name only a few. No longer hiding behind names like Miss Fitz and Mara Trax, it seems Maayan wants to spread her wings and establish her name further through Luciano’s popular Cadenza brand and label.
At a first listen, you can't really define what New Moon is about and which direction it's taking - although On My Street indeed is a clever choice as the opening song. The jazzy-influenced downtempo track immediately sucks you in. This is a nice appetizer. The second track, Harmonious Funk, is quite unique in its sound and grows on you everytime you hear it. I think it’s one of the best tracks of the album. Listen to it on the next page.
I have a love-hate connection with Tripping Over You. It definitely has an edge but it fails in escaping from its own groove. Great Suspenders just doesn't grab me too, it's going anywhere but nowhere. Send a Pigeon is next, which actually is a track I really like. This one could do really well when played in a club at the right time. Side by side to Harmonious Funk it would make a happy couple.
Undermine feels like a turning point on the album. As we're half way through, this track divides the first and best part from the second part. From here onwards the album sounds a bit like Mayaan had to rush to get it finished in time, as a lot of the tracks only seem to consist of musical sketches arranged from Mayaan's mind.
I understand giving birth to a full artist album of 11 tracks is a challenge. Artistically New Moon is an interesting exercise of what people nowadays seem to be calling ‘rough and sloppy house tunes,’ but this album isn’t just there yet. That said I wonder what will be next, as Mayaan definitely is able to take you on a musical journey to undiscovered places.
6/10 - Reinier Koolmees
Tracklisting next page.
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