I know what you’re thinking, “Ugh…more Twilight stuff? This has to suck.”
But wait…new material from Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, St. Vincent, and more? What?!?
This is the mix tape an angsty teenage vampire would make for his boo if he had indie sensibilities. And apparently vampires love reverb, because its the album’s common thread. If reverb was blood, New Moon would be more drenched than Carrie at the prom.
To no one’s surprise, the album chock-full of dark and moody songs. When the songs that stick out for being “chipper” have a choruses like “In the dark you tell me of the flowers,” (Sea Wolf’s “The Violet Hour”) you know you’re in for a mope fest. Overall, big names on here like The Killers and Yorke don’t stick out as much as their lesser known counterparts because the smaller acts are deliver more interesting songs on the whole.
There is a wide offering of songs worth checking out on New Moon. The muddled garage rock of Hurricane Bells’ “Monsters” stick out like a sore thumb, but in a good way. Death Cab for Cutie’s offering, “Meet Me On The Equinox,” is solid, but it does feel a little bit forced. It seems unlikely the band would’ve never written such a thing if not asked to do something for a Twilight movie soundtrack. On “Rosyln,” even the great St. Vincent can’t save the collaboration from scumming to Bon Iver’s smothering boredom, which is a shame. Among all of this, the highpoint of the soundtrack is clear – Anya Marina’s “Satellite Heart” – which hauntingly and delicately flows with words of softly whispered love.
The general dourness gets a bit overbearing after a while, making it tough to listen to straight through. However, on a track-to-track basis New Moon delivers some killer material.
Review Score: 7.2
*Expanded from a review in the November 4, 2009 issue of The Pacific Northwest Inlander*
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