Standing at only a mere 4 days old, “Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!” the new single from Arthur Moon has already amassed thousands of streams and landed on playlists alongside huge artists like The Japanese House, Sufjan Stevens, and St. Vincent. Before the mark of their one year anniversary, they earned themselves an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.
It’s clear this band is praised for their excellence, and their new single hits the mark the very same.
The Brooklyn avant-pop group, led by composer and singer Lora-Faye Åshuvud with collaborators Cale Hawkins, Martin D. Fowler, Dave Palazola and Aviva Jaye, released the single while announcing their new album to be released in the fall under the same name: “Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!“
And that’s just what the single is: a beautiful and haunting chaotic musical masterpiece. Boarding on the genres of indie and electropop with elements from jazz and a choral influence, Arthur Moon is able to seamlessly meld these opposing musical soundscapes in a captivating and genius way.
“Avant-pop group Arthur Moon are more than happy to deconstruct the conventions of typical pop music”
-Billboard Music
Not a single time during my first time listening through to the single did I know where the next note would land. Against dissonant to resolving vocals and piano vamping that explored multiple keys sometimes within the same measures, there was a sense of peace in the chaos. The droning electronic sounds complimented rather than clashed with the more organic instruments.
The vocals evolved from melodic singing to speak-singing with a metallic overlay, creating chaos in the mix. But never did the chaos not resolve, paving the way for a beautiful jazz piano solo overtop the synth drone.
Rather than staying in the confines of one genre, Arthur Moon seems to reconceptualize boxing artists into one genre over another. They explore so many different soundscapes that at one point, I scrapped the idea of attempting to label them as alt or pop, instead praising their ability to operate outside of anything I’ve ever heard before.
“Dump the heteronormativity and get on Arthur Moon’s wavelength instead”
-Refinery 29
“Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!,” sung by lead Ashuvud who identifies as queer, was released for Pride Month. The music video captures two queer women dancing alone together in the purple light, expressing themselves and their love unequivocally. Their music shows the same queering of pop, electronic, and experimental music. Ashuvud is not afraid to defy traditionalism, bringing a unique approach to timbre, melody, and rhythm throughout all of her pieces.
The unpredictable nature of Arthur Moon’s music alludes to a rejection of heteronormativity within music and a huge step towards the acceptance of queer music which is so very crucially important, particularly in a month honoring our LBGTQIA ancestors. Following the accolades from monumental influences in the music industry, including Billboard and NPR Music, it’s clear Arthur Moon is on the verge of blowing up. If you want to secure bragging rights of knowing their name and following their music before they’re the household name they’re bound to become, stream their new song asap!
