New Music Review - ‘Moonlight’ the EP by Lunar Intruder

Moonlight was released on Friday, 22nd April 2022. The photography in the background is at their old student flat renowned for their backyard gigs. Cover artwork by Hayley Smith.

Divine personification of growth is the most authentic way to describe this new era of Lunar Intruder. These four highly appreciated musicians send out magical waves of mystical wonder with their newest appointment, the Moonlight EP, which has been shooting into the lives of listeners everywhere since Friday.

Over the time that Lunar Intruder have been together, they have been thrown major curveballs that have helped chop and change their perspectives, exceling over time and creating tracks that you won’t find in many other places.

With Moonlight, you are able to feel a big shift in the orbital system, allowing Lunar Intruder to be broken away from past experiences, showcasing their ever evolving lives.

Lunar Intruder have built new ground to walk on, steering in the right direction of where they want to be. The quality from the level of work that has gone into this EP is without parallel. I firmly believe from a personal point of view that Lunar Intruder are one of the hardest working bands in the New Zealand music industry that I have taken a liking to, they have proven this time and time again.

The 5-track EP brings a lot of emotion, the Lunar Intruder men have said that Moonlight represents a multitude of things such as growing up, losing loved ones, getting kicked out of their flat and the ups and downs of being a young 20-something in New Zealand. This in itself, will strike a chord with many listeners who can see themselves in these moments.

Moonlight kicks off with the hit track Off To Nowhere (review here), a great invitation for what is to come.

Can’t Stay Here is the next track on Moonlight, coming in heavy with a bit of a pang to the heart. Within this song, you can hear the sorrow of losing a piece of their life that meant a lot and held a lot of memories to the Lunar Intruder boys, a sad reflection showing that life is not always perfect.

Moonlight is the third tune on the EP and while the middle track has less lyricism than the others, it allows the band to show their instrumental side, a bright reflection on the years gone by. It feels somewhat eerie with Cam’s vocals carefully swaying in and out, however, it makes the tune more enticing to the audience because it has individual factors that are spectacularly unique.

All The Time (Golden Side) revolutionises the way that we see Lunar Intruder, distancing themselves slightly from the previous wave of their earlier releases (Solar Hangover and Outerworlds). This track holds a spark of higher maturity and allows the growth to be engaged within the listener. If it were a colour, I would place this as gold (no pun intended) or yellow. It is light and seamless.

Light The Way is the closer of Moonlight, the most moving song on the EP and potentially the most vulnerable track that Lunar Intruder have released to date. You may need a large box of tissues for this one. It is about one of their mutual friends who unfortunately passed away not too long ago. Out of respect for this person, I am not going to write my opinion on Light The Way because it is deeply personal and means a lot to the Lunar Intruder team.

Overall, Moonlight has the potential to become reputable and timeless, letting the band explore and discover their next step through the universe.

You can follow along in the Lunarverse below -

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Lunar Intruder Interview with WTTG here

(Another interview soon, pals?)