Moat – Poison Stream LP (Schoolkids Records)

From a personal experience, the best way to begin working week is to start it with some calmy, detailed, atmospheric music. It serves as a perfect soundtrack that will get you smoothly through the hectic working hours, but also as a bit of relaxation after the shifts. Moat is the ideal choice, in my humble opinion. This duo has everything you need to get through every stressful situation, and their latest full-length recording is a more than a right choice if you’re in search of profoundly melodic music performed by experienced musicians. Moat is a collaborative project of Marty Willson-Piper and Niko Röhlcke, two skilled musicians who joined forces to deliver tremendous numbers. Marty Willson-Piper is widely known for his longevous musical relationship with Australian psychedelic surfers The Church, a decade with English hippie goths All About Eve, and the ongoing project Noctorum with Dare Mason, who is also co-producer and engineer on Poison Stream. Niko is a multi-instrumentalist and has composed for theatre, film, and TV and is a longtime member of Weeping Willows, one of Sweden’s most popular bands. Poison Stream is their latest full-length recording that showcases the brilliance of these two individuals, who’re delivering outstanding tunes from scratch to finish.

Although this duo operates since 2013, and they have a tremendous debut album out there, it seems that Poison Stream showcases even more sonic delicacies than its predecessor. This material unquestionably goes a step further and perhaps demonstrates how these artists cooperate in harmony even more. Also, Moat avoids any classifications into the singular music genre, so you’ll have some difficulties pinpointing their music into any particular genre. You’ll hear a dominant presence of indie rock, but undoubtfully there’s more than meets the eye. Marty and Niko spent a lot of time working on these numbers, and the inspiration, interests, style, and directions are changed with time. Therefore, each composition delivers an entirely unique vibe decorated by a particular genre that may inspire these artists during songwriting, composing, recording process. Besides indie rock, you may hear other ingredients such as indie pop, indie folk, folk, dream pop, shoegaze, alternative rock, acoustic rock, and pub rock. The best part about Moat is that their music harmoniously resonates no matter which direction they may explore within the particular number. Each genre works like a charm for their music, so you won’t even notice the presence or absence of these elements. Quite the contrary, Poison Stream appears as a harmonious slab of ear-appealing music whatever path these musicians take during this musical voyage.

Poison Stream will be right up your alley if you’re into complex indie-rock orchestrations, decorated by bigger chunks of indie-folk and smaller chunks of other beforementioned genres. Their pleasant music goes with every mood, moment, and occasion, so you can’t go wrong with this one. Schoolkids Records have done a brilliant job with deluxe gatefold packaging that unveils beautiful abstract artwork. Poison Stream is indeed a work of art both visually and sonically, so head over to the Schoolkids Records for more detailed information about ordering this indie gem.