"Moon" Forsakes Magic for Melancholia

It seems that a war—or perhaps some sobering economic downturn—has befallen the mythical fantasy land of Elf Power’s discography. Whatever the case, it’s obvious that from their newest offering, “Sunlight on the Moon,” that not all is well in Elf Power’s magical kingdom. Throughout the album, melancholy guitar chords and mournful tinkling pianos back frontman Andrew Rieger’s purposefully languid voice as he sings strikingly personal songs of discontentment that melt into each other in a lackadaisical procession. It’s a very pronounced shift from the playful imagination of the band’s past records. “Sunlight on the Moon” also offers almost no furthering of the fantastical narrative of elves, magical lands and mythical settings started in older albums. Instead, the record concerns itself mostly with internal themes of strife, loneliness and melancholia as well as large-scale issues like war and persecution. It’s an interesting change of pace that at its best produces an album that’s saturated with deeply moody and resonating moments, but regrettably tends to blend together into a lengthy lull of boredom.

With its roots in the indie collective Elephant 6, Elf Power was formed alongside the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, and Apples in Stereo in the 1990s. In such company and over the course of their many LP offerings to date, Rieger and instrumentalist Laura Carter have embraced and near-mastered their niche, lo-fi brand of neo-psychedelic rock. “Sunlight on the Moon” offers no change on that front. In fact, the distorted and far-off quality of Rieger’s vocals add to the album’s themes of introspection and solitude. Also constant from Elf Power’s past is their usage of chugging guitar chords and a range of eclectic atypical instruments. This time however, the band is much less playful and upbeat, in keeping with the more brooding themes on “Sunlight on the Moon.”

The first song, “Transparent Lines,” immediately sets the tone for the album to follow. In the moody and subdued track, Rieger bemoans inner strife and conflict (“I laid down with the demons in the night and now we’re all the same”) while singing a simple and catchy melody that unfolds in repetitive loops. It’s an excellent track that showcases the band’s new direction in all its angsty and stellar lyricism. Elf Power’s song writing prowess is further demonstrated midway through the album with “Chromosome Blues” and “Grotesquely Born Anew,” a particularly distressed and lonesome track in which Rieger sorrowfully states over the distorted wail of an unrecognizable instrument that “the trail is ending and it never led me home.” The feeling of loneliness is further expounded on in the next track, a melodically pleasing yet downright depressing lament called “Things Lost.”

There’s definitely a certain pleasure in listening to each song blend into the next. However, after 13 tracks succeed in this procession, this monotony becomes more grating than soothing. Upon the first listen, a fair number of songs on “Sunlight” sound very similar. Even after a couple of times through it’s still very easy to get lost in the chugging guitar chord blur that is the latter part of the album. At first “Total Annihilation” seems to be a break from the monotony of sad tracks that surrounds it, opening with bombastic garage rock drum rolls and electric guitar riffs, only to eventually settle back into the simple melodies and repetitive guitar chords that dominate “Sunlight.” The track “Manifestations” seems especially unimaginative, with a melody that sounds like a too-familiar mashup of songs played earlier in the tracklist.

Being in the middle of such monotony makes “Darkest Wave,” a moody folk-blues hybrid that stands as a unique and strongly crafted track, all the more enjoyable and appreciated. The same goes for “Slow Change,” the album’s strong exceptional closing track. Among a plethora of discontented songs, “Slow Change” seems to be the most likely to find itself at the center of a musical montage of some teen-angst centered indie flick. With Rieger’s slow and mournful delivery, a tapping piano melody and the album’s characteristic strumming guitars, it’s a slow burner and sums up the essence of what “Sunlight” excels in very well.

It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if “Sunlight on the Moon” turned out to be a real darling with the critics. It’s meaningful, dark, well conceived, strongly crafted, and shows a real progression on the band’s part. It’s an album that picks its themes and sticks to them, and perhaps the occasional boredom it induces can be forgiven for its firmness in purpose and skill in lyricism. However, only time will tell if Elf Power’s fans, loyal for almost 20 years, will appreciate the band’s significant turn from their tales about magical kingdoms and fantastical creatures to the gloomy tropes of personal introspection and discontentment. As for newcomers to the band, they’ll be introduced to an Elf Power that isn’t entirely the Elf Power as previously defined. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an album worth listening to—beneath the occasional surface boredom of the album lie its most rewarding subterranean elements. If listeners agree, it could mean a lasting new direction for the band. If not, "Sunlight on the Moon" will likely be condemned to the category of an interesting, yet ultimately forgettable album.