We have covered local outfit Moon Idle a number of times since they got it together last year and have always enjoyed their sets. The band are now getting ready for their headlining concert for next week, where they will be playing at the Green Door Store on Wednesday 25th September, where they will be supported by Harper and Lana Death Ray. And guess what! It’s a mere £3 on the door to get in! That equates to only £1 per band! Absolute bargain!
So who are Moon Idle I hear you say? Well, let’s make it easy and refer to one of our previous encounters with the quartet. This one being at The Hope & Ruin in Brighton on 6th December last year…………………
The ‘Hidden Herd’ night kicked off with alternative band Moon Idle who formed in Brighton last year and are Quilla Robinson (vocals/guitar/keys), Jasper Fergus (guitar), Felix Burton (drums) and Martin Eddington (bass). They are a young but talented outfit who mainly used to attend the WaterBear college here in town. Influenced by Massive Attack, Mazzy Star and Radiohead, the four-piece draw on a wide variety of genres, including trip-hop, Latin-jazz and dream pop. Despite only emerging at the start of 2023, the relative newcomers have already unveiled a steady stream of superb singles in ‘Moments’, ‘Makeup’ and ‘Mirror’, which ramped up to the release of their five-track debut EP ‘Kindly’ at the end of August. As well as being championed by Alyx Holcombe on her BBC Music Introducing Rock show on Radio 1 and Melita Dennett on BBC Music Introducing, they’ve also headlined Green Door Store, shared the stage with KEG and Modern Woman and played Sofar Sounds.
This was to be my second helping of Moon Idle loveliness, having first witnessed their live set back in September at the Green Door Store’s ‘2 3 4 Fest’. Tonight we were served half a dozen self-penned compositions throughout their tight and captivating performance that ran from 8:08pm to 8:40pm. Half of the set was culled from their ‘Kindly’ EP and the other half as far as I can tell remain unreleased. Their instruments of choice were Nord Electro 6D keys and Fender Telecaster by Quilla, a Fender Jazzmaster guitar by Jasper, Fender Mustang bass by Martin, and Felix was on drums.
The quartet opened with ‘The Avenue’ from the EP and I’m immediately drawn to Quilla’s ethereal vocals and dreamy keyboard patterns, this certainly secured my interest. ‘Makeup’ (also from the EP) is up next and sees Quilla switch from keys to her Fender Telecaster which is strummed for an echoey beat, and they offer up more dreamy sounds. ‘Seed’, the first of the unreleased numbers is next and it’s here that I noted that both Jasper and Martin play their instruments on short straps, which is the opposite to say Peter Hook’s low slung bass. Quilla’s voice is fabulous on this tune and delivers in an understated way, as she also does for ‘Moments’, from the ‘Kindly’ EP, as she glides between guitar and keys. Each vocal is delivered with a soulful purpose at a slower rate to that of the drums and yet this somehow works in their favour. They see us out with the remaining to be recorded tracks ‘Girl In Blue’ and ‘Delay Me’, with the latter reminding me of the bass cuts of Jah Wobble (former PiL) courtesy of Martin, and Jasper was on serious foot-pedal action, and Quilla uses a guitar slide. I can see there’s definite potential here and it’s clear they have an exciting future ahead.
Moon Idle:
Quilla Robinson – vocals/guitar/keys
Jasper Fergus – guitar
Felix Burton – drums
Martin Eddington – bass
Check out Moon Idle’s music HERE.
