For more than 30 years, Nada Surf have crafted album after album of consistently impressive power-pop delights. If ‘Never Not Together’, released back in 2020, found the New York band in a different mood, largely down to current affairs, ‘Moon Mirror’ is the sound of a band having fun.
Frontman Matthew Caws has recently claimed that it’s difficult to nail down song meanings but that he feels that they are always “searching for a bright side.” That is evident from the start here as the highly infectious Second Skin commands some of the energy and exuberance once displayed by Lightning Seeds.
That energy continues into the album’s lead single In Front of Me Now, where jangly guitars precede another up-tempo beat that could be Feeder if they gave their songs a lighter touch.
Raucous indie-pop takes hold for Intel and Dreams, this time with a punky core coming across like a more polite Green Day, not least because Caws’s vocals are always pitched in a dreamier space.
There is a liking for three-chord structures within several songs, including the serene respite provided by New Propeller — it’s gorgeous. Losing employs the same convention to similar effect with its soothing, synth-backed chords, before reversing the pattern.
You would find it difficult to pick holes in any of the songs on ‘Moon Mirror’, with perhaps the only criticism being that at times — such as on X Is You, instrumental break aside — it can become a little nondescript. Open Seas, meanwhile, uses Ash-esque guitars for an opening burst of noise but it’s too reliant on the same riff that lasts for most of the song’s duration.
It is remarkable that any band can continue an upward trajectory throughout its career, but ‘Moon Mirror’ does suggest things are certainly not in decline for Nada Surf. In short, it is an album that can lift spirits – a neat trick to be able to pull off in some very dark and troubling times.
Nada Surf Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu November 21 2024 - DUBLIN Academy
Fri November 22 2024 - MANCHESTER Gorilla
Sat November 23 2024 - LONDON Islington Assembly Hall
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