John Moose
s/t

Funny name, John Moose – a Swedish band with their roots in the forests of Värmland, Sweden. They had a funny way of presenting their debut album with a pre-release being available for the one who downloaded their app to their phone and went out into the forest, quite a unique way that has been noticed in many publications around the world – they have certainly received a lot of press which should help them to get noticed. Of course you have to deliver some quality music if you want to take it further than just being something of a novelty and looking at the cover photo one has to wonder. The packaging of the CD itself is pretty nice, we at Hallowed enjoy white album releases, there are just way too few of those in the kind of music we write about.

Speaking of which, John Moose, a quintet, does not quite fit the bill of the more common types of albums being reviewed here at Hallowed. It is more folkish and less evil, about John who takes to the forests, yeah the concept you can figure out for yourself. Americana meets Swedish melancholy seems to be a common thread amongst the ones writing about this Moose-person, and maybe it is. It is certainly folkish rock music with touches of melancholy, darkness, light, nature, forests – built much around atmospheres and feelings it seems and it shows an excellent production with a soundscape that is very exciting. The singers are not the best but they do what they should, the variation is pretty big even though it feels a little bit like the album lacks that dynamic feel that can make an album interesting all the way.

My first impression was that this was a very good and deep album with a fascinating angle of perspective, analysing it more did dampen that view somewhat as there are some things that just doesn’t do the album justice – like the ending of the track Flower to name one. Some electronic stuff feels out of place, like the depth was only an illusion that appeared at first glance – kind of like seeing a magic trick, first time it is exciting and then you figure out how it is done and it loses its magic. It is the same with this album. Still, they do more good than band and show real signs of promise with this debut album, an ambitious effort that they nearly pull off.

I think this will be well worth checking out for the one who likes their music a bit more thoughtworthy than your everyday band, it has its flaws but it is quite enjoyable still. No track stands out far above the rest but the second, third or fourth are the most likely candidates of being best on the album. An album that is excellent in its best moments, enjoyable as a whole but maybe best describe as a show of great potential. I think that we can expect the John Moose to be an interesting addition to the Swedish fauna in the future, I think you can explore what it is all about by buying this very nice album.

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