With THE GOLD NEEDLES' new album MOOD ELEVATOR just announced, Big Stir Records proudly presents the fourth and final pre-release single from the record. “Crescent Moon,” an atmospheric ballad demonstrating the record's depth after rocking indie hits like “Turns To Gold” and “I Don't Know About That,” sees release November 14 (four weeks before the album) and is up for pre-order and pre-save now:
https://orcd.co/goldneedles-cresentmoon
MOOD ELEVATOR is the fourth album from THE GOLD NEEDLES (Simon Dowson, lead vocals, guitar; Dave Burbage, lead guitar; Mark English, keyboards; Carl Slaughter, bass; Will Jones, drums), and it's already being hailed as a major leap forward for an already beloved leading light of the British power pop and indie rock scene. “Crescent Moon” is just one more reason to look forward to its December 12 release on CD and Streaming, and a beautifully textured and evocative counterpoint to the three other tunes that've teased the album. But it wouldn't do to label it as “the ballad”... it's much more than that, as the band explains.
“On the surface, 'Crescent Moon' appears to be a song about being uplifted when apathy surrounds, and in a literal and lyrical sense it probably is about this thorny subject,” says the band's Mark English. “However, against that grain, the whole creation of this track was extremely joyous and without doubt it is the most spontaneous number on MOOD ELEVATOR. Lead guitar supremo Dave was working on a delightful minor key soundscape that minus vocals would've found a great place on a movie soundtrack, and he brought that musical idea to the Needles to gauge opinion. It had already been given its ultimate title, as it seemed to musically evoke that image of a crescent moon, and its many potential meanings: new beginnings, wisdom, intention, growth and positivity... the list goes on!”
English continues, “Put simply, the title felt just right attached to the minor key chordal groove. The spontaneity of this track is how it all so beautifully fell into place to create a finished article that included vocals. Lead vocalist Simon had written the first verse on the Number 35 bus to Willerby en route to a band meeting, and within the first half hour after his arrival, I'd pieced together verse 2 with its 'silver and gold' and 'wax and the wane' references. The chorus had almost written itself. Indeed, to this day well after recording the song, we still aren't categoric about whether the chorus refrain is 'High High Crescent Moon' or 'Hi Hi Crescent Moon'. The truth is it can be either, and the listener is free to choose! That's why we find the end result to be something delightfully spontaneous and highly refreshing... THE GOLD NEEDLES doing what we do best.”
It's a story that's emblematic of the renewed and palpable creative drive behind MOOD ELEVATOR, as an album and a new beginning for THE GOLD NEEDLES. What's better yet is that the band hasn't made any missteps across their four-album career, meaning that for fans, the record is quite simply a leveling up, and almost undeniably a new high point in an already impressive career. On December 12, the world will be able to hear it in full.