Album Review: Moving Mountains- New Light EP

(click this link to purchase this album)

New Light is the newest EP by New York post-hardcore/ambient band Moving Mountains.  The EP features acoustic re-imaginings of four of the bands songs,  two off the band’s 2007 debut Pneuma (“Ode We Will Bury Ourselves” and “8105”) and two off their 2011 release Waves (“Alleviate” and “Where Two Bodies Lie”).  This is the first EP I have reviewed for Keep Calm and Carry On, so since the entire EP is only four track, I figured I would review this album in track-by-track format.

“Alleviate,” the most recent single released from Waves, retains much of the energy of the original song, but adds in an orchestral component that provides even more emotional firepower to the song. The decision to put a piano at the forefront at the very beginning was a tremendous decision. The original version of the song features lead singer Gregory Dunn screaming the words “Turn around, and look me in the eyes and swear to me you'll never be a dream to me,” but the perfection with which he sings the lines in this version far surpasses the original version. Perhaps the most underrated part of this track is Nicholas Pizzolato providing the background on the drums without overpowering everything else-a difficult task to accomplish on an acoustic album.

“Ode We Will Bury Ourselves” is perhaps the most disappointing song on the EP. Having been cut from its original 7 minute, 54 second runtime down to a significantly shorter 4 minutes, 38 seconds, the song feels like it has been truncated by the band. The song , the closing track off 2007’s Pneuma, originally ended with a minute-and-a-half long segment where the band repeats the lyrics “And I am in the earth, and you’re in the sky, Hallelujah / and nothing will change what you are, Hallelujah,” as the album fades out. The result is an extremely poignant ending to a near-perfect album. The band made the difficult decision to cut that entire section of the song, and the result doesn’t make that decision seem worthwhile.

“Where Two Bodies Lie,” which is my personal second favorite song Waves, probably deviates the least from the original material. The drumming in between the verses is the exact same drum beat as the original song, and the orchestral arrangements echo the originals bass and second guitar parts. The song is exceptional in that it can maintain such a close connection to the original but still feel fresh and exciting. The song’s best moment is when at the 2:20 moment all the other instruments cut out and it’s just the acoustic guitar and the drums, then at 2:31 everything comes back in as Gregory Dunn croons “Cause you mean everything to me, so just let go of everything between.”

“8105” is the adaptation of a Pneuma song that I wish “Ode We Will Bury Ourselves” could be. Clocking it at a comparable length to the original song (8:19 to the Pnuema version’s 8:31), the song maintains all the best moments of the original song and even  I’m still unsure why they kept the whole running time of “8105” but chopped up “Ode We Will Bury Ourselves” so drastically. The powerful drum beat supplied by Nicholas Pizzolato at the 5:10 mark of the song hits even harder in this version. In perhaps the best moment of the entire EP vocally, Gregory Dunn’s voice cracks when he sings “I wouldn’t mind to die like this” exposing the line with a perfect amount of sentiment. “8105” is probably the best track on the EP.

Bottom Line: We’ve already spoken on this blog about our love for this band, which I firmly believe is one of the best up-and-coming bands in the scene. Moving Mountains tries new things with each release, and as a result they continue to develop and release music that never feels stale. New Light is no exception to this. It is a great collection of songs that listeners can enjoy whether or not they have listened to the original tracks before.

Recommended if You Rock: acoustic guitar jams, bonfires, the kid that played in the orchestra in high school who was a nerd but now he kicks ass, this guy