Night Moves - Carl Sagan EP

Night Moves
Carl Sagan EP
2017
Spotify

2016 was certainly hip hop's year with album after album coming out and almost totally redefining the genre. 2015 was similar with electronic music, and that only sets the stage for something else to enrapture us in 2017. Well this might be it. Night Moves have returned after last years Pennied Days with this new EP Carl Sagan. I will have to be perfectly honest the first the thing that drew me to this record was the title, and title track, almost anything with Carl Sagan's name on it has me instantly. NIght Moves have this very nostalgic sound to their music, evoking that spacey 60s and 70s rock, yet everything is wildly modern. "Drum Test" has all the best elements of an Animal Collective track, but with less looping so the song has a chance to move and spread out. That sense of space and room to grow is one of the absolute best things about this record. It is the kind of album where you can spark up a joint, sit on the couch and just melt away for a little while. The songs are quite long so you would expect some drag, but because Night Moves is so willing to let a song go where it may they never get bogged down on one thing or another. Nimble would probably be the best way to describe it. John Pelant's voice is also like a warm hug, not perfect but oh so very soothing and may very well be exactly what you need.

The bounce on the title track Carl Sagan is also a nice addition adding some dance vibes to a song that is already pretty great. The lyrics are also quite intriguing both to sing a long to and as a study. The psychedelic influences cannot be denied also with each track seeming to transport you somewhere back in the 60s before Nixon and Reagan came in and turned on the lights at the party. Pelant has confirmed in interviews that this EP as well as Pennied Days was inspired from multiple viewings of the Fox show Cosmos, and the impact that Carl Sagan left on the world. He may not go on the full deep dive into the universe on this album but those ideas really do inspire some great tunes. There really is something about this record that feels like the next big thing, but only time will tell.

7.9 out of 10