Released: 10th January 2020
Rating: ★★★★★
Let’s not mess around here. ‘Walking Like We Do’, the long-awaited second album from those lovable scamps The Big Moon, is really proper great. After the huge Mercury-nomming success of ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’, what could easily have been an easy retread has instead become something far bolder, a sensational record that sees them confidently matching up to the very best of this, and every other, generation.
Kicking off with ‘It’s Easy Then’ and ‘Your Light’, the album opens in a breezy yet familiar style. But it’s when it moves into brand new territory that things get really interesting. ‘Don’t Think’ for example, deserves a festival headline slot of its own. A banger of celestial proportions, it takes The Big Moon to the dance floor (literally) like never before. Built on a Blondie-esque groove, when Soph’s galaxy-smashing riff kicks in it is such a massive wavy arm moment as it transforms and transcends into the band’s finest yet.
Elsewhere, new tones and textures sweep across every moment. Contemplative piano ballads like’ Dog Eat Dog’, a wry look at modern life that still finds it rubbish, flow smoothly into the bigger pop songs. ‘Holy Roller’ even seems to deploy a jazz flute (not something we expected in 2020 tbh) to devastating effect while the simple harmonies of “Waves’ make for another album highlight. The band themselves have never sounded better, here or in their various side projects. Meanwhile pulsing through it all, Jools’ writing brings a matter-of-fact emotional power. Whether it is the poignant ‘Barcelona’, an exploration of time moving on and friends moving away, or the self-exploratory ‘ADHD’, it all feels fresh and truthful.
When the band admit late on that “We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re walking like we do”, it is a statement of absolute accuracy. The sound of a group that seem to be loving every second of exploring a wide-open future, ‘Walking Like We Do’ is pure joy from start to finish. If there’s any justice, they’ll be back on top of the world with this one.
Jamie MacMillan
