Moon Mother Post “Planet Caravan” Cover; New LP Meadowlands Out Feb. 6
Swedish dark-folkies Moon Mother are releasing their second album, Meadowlands, on Feb. 6. They’ve already put out a couple of singles from the follow-up to 2023’s She’s a Starry Night, and in addition to those, this weekend the two-piece put up their take on “Planet Caravan.” In the parlance of our times, it’s a vibe. You might want to check it out.
The two entities — band and song — are well suited to each other, and the sleepy, maybe-Bill–Ward-voiced cut from Master of Reality lends itself to an open and organic feel in no small part because that was how the original functioned. The echoing strum of the guitar comes to the forefront while the vocals take on a bluesy cast. If you know the Black Sabbath version — and if you’re reading this sentence, I’m assuming you do — then Moon Mother‘s serves as both interpretation and homage to that ambient stoner highlight.
I’ve included the two videos thus far posted ahead of Meadowlands below, and I’m not sure whether “Planet Caravan” will be on the record or not, but I know that I wanted more after hearing it, and I thought you might too.
From the PR wire:
MOON MOTHER – PLANET CARAVAN (BLACK SABBATH COVER)
SWEDISH DARK FOLK DUO PAY TRIBUTE TO BLACK SABBATH & THE LATE OZZY OSBOURNE WITH EARTHY AND PSYCHEDELIC VERSION OF THE PARANOID 1970-CLASSIC “PLANET CARAVAN” ON DECEMBER 13.
Between the releases of the first singles from their upcoming new album, Moon Mother surprise their fans with unexpected & enchanted cover of Black Sabbath’s song “Planet Caravan”.
Moon Mother is the voice that’s echoing in the darkness of a starless night to remind you about the coming morning. With an architecture made out of earthy alternative slowrock and melancholic atmospheric folk with a wild nordic vibe the duo from Sweden is about to release their second album “Meadowlands” in February next year.
Earlier this summer they honored the late Ozzy Osbourne on a live show shortly after his death with a spontaneous cover of “Planet Caravan” and felt that they wanted to record their version of it.
Said and done they recorded it live in their home studio on September 18 this year, later it were brought to their attention that it was exactly 55 years on the day since the release of the groovy 1970-classic from Black Sabbaths album Paranoid. Of course it added a lot of extra mystery to it all.
In their own version they have kept the trance-like and cosmical elements of the original but added some primitive and typical Moon Mother vocalizations inspired by Toni Iommis flute on the original and also added some minimalistic shamanic drums, glimmering guitar sounds and bird song that somehow roots this kind of originally interstellar like song back into the earth again.
On December 13 they will release their live version of it. A cover that captures an atmosphere that is swirling around in a raw and spellbinding dance, all held together by the grounding nylon-stringed guitar and Saras vocals in the center of it all. Mixed and mastered for all the extra magic and soul by Hans Olsson at Svenska Grammofonstudion.
“I’ve always felt that Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath had a very intergalactic vibe all over it and I feel that in our version we kind of opened up a new perspective to it as the cover came out being very earthy in a very Moon Mother kind of way. Like standing outside on a cold night watching the stars, the moon and the beauty of this place. Somehow it made me think that the Earth, our home is Planet Caravan, taking us on a wild ride as we’re drifting through the universe surrounded by the mystery, the madness and the beautiful magic of it all…”
— Sara Mehner (vocalist)
Song credentials:
Written by: Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi
Original version recorded by Black Sabbath
Additional musicians: Bass: Krister Selander
Mixed & Mastered by Hans Olsson at Svenska Grammofonstudion
Artwork photo by Julia Moon
Artwork design by Sara Mehner
Press photos by Julia Moon
Produced & recorded live by Moon Mother in Grästorp:
Vocals, acoustic guitar: Sara Mehner
Electric guitar, drums, tambourine: Patriec Ahlström
https://linktr.ee/moonmothermusic
https://moonmothermusic.com/
https://www.moonmother.bandcamp.com/
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