I do sometimes regret the restrictions of a 'Nordic' music site, because I want us to write about singer songwriters from Chile, and post rock bands from China, there really shouldn't be any boundaries to whom we feature, but the music world is so vast it would be unmanageable, and thankfully Nordic artists often collaborate with musicians from outside the region to make these pages less confined. 'Pale Moon' are an Icelandic / Russian duo that feature musician Árni Guðjónsson and Natasha Sushchenko, and their debut EP 'Dust of Days' is a melodic indie dream pop release of 3 tracks, with appealing harmonies and an upbeat sensibility.
The story behind 'Pale Moon' is really interesting, because Árni Guðjónsson, amongst other bands, was originally in 'Of Monsters and Men' in their very early days (and without wishing to offend their fans, I'd respectfully suggest that was when they were at their best), and he met Natasha, who originates from Siberia, whilst studying in Barcelona, before on a month long trip to Mexico they started writing demos - I really hope they made it to Merida, which is on my list of places to return to so that I can write about the music scene there. Anyway the style of these 'mammoth jams' can still be heard on their EP, with the long instrumental sections being amongst its highlights.
'Exile' opens the EP, and it quickly opens into a stylish melodic chorus, and the music is unhurried in a psychedelic style with influences possibly from across multiple decades. 'Waiting for the Sun' has a lovely easy style, with a 60s melodic lilt that reminds of bands like 'The School', carried along by a weaving bass line and I particularly like the instrumental section which disappears off in a slightly leftfield direction - it's a nicely written track. Final song 'Everything is alright' is almost horizontally laid back, but the power of the central musical themes comes through as a real statement, and at almost 7 minutes the duo are able to indulge themselves with an extended outro.
I really like 'Pale Moon's' languid musical perspective, which is definitely the type of music you need to let grow on you over time. I think the style still works best in 'Waiting for the Sun', which is such a lovely track and the vocals of Natasha Sushchenko are particularly appealing, but overall it's music you can get completely lost in, whether it's on a long road trip or to turn up in your own house / apartment and shut the world out. Please check them out in the following places: