21st Century Music: The Big Moon
21st Century Music are playlists and profiles that focus on artists that have released their music since 2000. These highlight new(er) acts that continue the sound and spirit of the older acts that are the focus of Ceremony. Click on the streaming service of your choice below to listen to the playlist as you read along.
One of my musical obsessions over the past year has been the UK band, The Big Moon. I was already a fan of their previous albums, but the arrival of their third LP in 2022, Here Is Everything, really pushed them to the forefront of my interest. They’ve been part of two trends I’ve found myself turning towards, all-female acts and in particular, bands in which all members sing (e.g The Beths and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever).
The Big Moon (L to R): Celia Archer (bass), Jules Jackson (vocals, guitar), Fern Ford (drums), and Soph Nathan (guitar). All add their vocals to many tracks in varying combinations to give the band an added layer of sonic interest.
Over the past six months, I’ve found myself constantly watching The Big Moon’s live performances, one with a string section in an empty church and another drifting along London’s Regent’s Canal, part of the Coal Drops Sessions. Each offer differing, compelling perspectives on their excellent songs. Seduced by their harmonies, layered guitars, thick foundational rhythms, hooky melodies, and Juliette Jackson’s sultry vocals, I was thrilled to catch them in concert recently in Toronto – a show in which they were tired but no less spirited after a no-sleep travel night from New York.
The band was formed by “Jules” Jackson (guitar, keyboards, lead vocals and lead writer) in 2014 in London, joining via mutual friends with Soph Nathan (guitar, vocals), Celia Archer (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Fern Ford (drums, vocals). First called Riff Randel (after the lead character in the Ramones movie, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School), the band then called themselves The Moon, but feeling it was too common and generic, add the ‘big’ adjective.
They released a series of singles over 2015 and 2016, which were compiled into an EP, The Road, in 2016. After issuing the lead single in 2016, “Formidable,” there followed their debut LP, Love in the 4th Dimension, in 2017, which earned them a Mercury Prize nomination. That was followed by an EP of acoustic versions of several of their singles in late 2017. Their next album, 2020’s Walking Like We Do, was again preceded in the year prior by its lead single, “Your Light.” They have also issued several Christmas singles and recently did the theme song from the children’s animated series, Interrupting Chicken.
Over the course of their career, they have evolved their power pop sound, infusing it with unabashed pop at times, dance beats at others, or lush, honeyed harmonies (which vary based on the combination of voices, given all four contribute). Their poppier moments are when they lose me a little, but invariably follow it with an infectious, edgy, guitar driven track, or a beautiful keyboard accented, new wave tinged track. They can carry you with a smooth melody or get your toes tapping with a pulsing, angular rhythm.
Their early singles introduced us to a consummate power-pop quartet, with crunching guitars and catchy hooks. The single, “Formidable,” showed the band’s ability to create an anthemic, forceful sound capable of something bigger (Jackson has admitted she’d like to write for Disney). The debut LP revealed greater versatility with slower, moodier, bluesy ballads, such as “Zeds,” further explored by the acoustic EP that followed.
It was the arrival of “Your Light,” an undeniable pop gem, that brought the band greater attention and recognition as an act capable of delivering smartly crafted and exquisitely delivered songs. The second album delivered more of the same, though none quite to that level of the lead single. Delving more into pure pop moments, the album was eminently listenable but a bit uneven, though could still thrill with tracks like, “Don’t Think.”
In a more recent pic (clockwise from bottom), Celia, Soph, Jules, and Fern.
The band’s trajectory was thrown off by the pandemic, foiling the chance to play some larger venues and pushing them back into day jobs. However, also in that time, Jackson got engaged and had her first child (yup, that’s her on the cover), an experience that influenced her writing for the next LP.
That album, their third and most recent, has seen the band achieve a more mature, polished, and consistent output. The combinations of pop craft, interesting edges, and joyful expression are better balanced, bringing more fully formed songs that aren’t just fun to listen, but give the ear depths to explore and a greater satisfaction. They move between glorious, pop perfection in “2 Lines” and “Wide Eyes,” catchy ditties like, “Suckerpunch,” subtle and lovely tracks, “Ladye Bay” and “Satellites,” and finally to the breathtaking beauty of, “This Love.”
In today’s saturated music market, it is hard for acts to break through, but it still befuddles me how an act like The Big Moon can ride along so overlooked. While I was thrilled to see them in a small club with only a couple hundred people, it shouldn’t be. This band has thrilled large crowds at Glastonbury and plays larger venues in their homeland, and I hope they find their way to a larger appreciation of their talent and music. I worry that to do so they’ll need to lean into their purer pop side and leave behind the more complex and pleasing nuances of their compositions. In an era of manufactured beats and auto-tuned vocals, there needs to be a place for a band to succeed with unaffected, beautifully written music. The Big Moon is giving us that, and I can’t wait for more.
The Playlist - “song” \ album (year)
My pic of the band performing at The Garrison in Toronto, November 2023
“Sucker” \ non-album single / The Road EP (2015)
“Nothing Without You” \ non-album single / The Road EP (2015)
“Cupid” \ The Road EP
“Silent Movie Susie” \ “Silent Movie Susie” single / Love in the 4th Dimension (2016)
“Formidable” \ “Formidable” single / Love in the 4th Dimension (2017)
“Pull the Other One” \ Love in the 4th Dimension (2017)
“Bonfire” \ Love in the 4th Dimension (2017)
“Happy New Year” \ Love in the 4th Dimension (2017)
“Zeds” \ Love in the 4th Dimension (2017)
“Your Light” \ “Your Light” single / Walking Like We Do (2019)
“Why” \ Walking Like We Do (2020)
“Don’t Think” \ Walking Like We Do (2020)
“Holy Roller” \ Walking Like We Do (2020)
“2 Lines” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“Wide Eyes” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“This Love” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“Suckerpunch” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“Ladye Bay” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“Trouble” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
“Satellites” \ Here Is Everything (2022)
