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Stubb Premiere 24-Minute Single “Burning Moon”

Posted in audiObelisk on April 10th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

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UK power trio Stubb will release their new single-song EP, Burning Moon, on April 29, marking the occasion of their appearance and performance of it at Desertfest London 2017. They’ll be at The Black Heart in Camden Town, a place of which one has fond memories, and joined by guests Ewan Duffus on keyboard and Thomas Mowforth and Zel Kaute on percussion. Listening to the freshly-mastered studio version of the 24-minute “Burning Moon,” it is duly expansive as to make a trio into a six-piece, with founding vocalist/guitarist Jack Dickinson leading bassist/vocalist Tom Hobson, who makes his debut here, and drummer Tom Fyfe, who came aboard for their late-2014 sophomore long-player, Cry of the Ocean (review here) and the subsequent 2015 The Theory of Light and Matter split with Mos Generator (discussed here), through movements either tied to memorable verses and choruses or floating free on a resounding psychedelic jam.

It does not take long in hearing it for one to realize Burning Moon is a special project for Stubb even after the marked aesthetic growth of Cry of the Ocean, and the continued collaboration with producer Chris Fielding (AlunahElectric WizardConan) at Skyhammer Studios ensures the sound is full and duly expansive throughout. Much as that album started subtly with the quiet unfolding of its two-part title-track, a soft bassline from Hobson begins the first minute of “Burning Moon,” though it will be the swell of Duffus‘ keys that make the most striking immediate impression. It’s not the first time Stubb have put keys to use in their material — Mos Generator‘s Tony Reed guested on Hammond for Cry of the Ocean‘s “Snake Eyes” and Duffus also played on the cover of “Little Wing” that was included as part of Magnetic Eye Records‘ The Best of James Marshall Hendrix tribute compilationSTUBB BURNING MOON (review here) — but they’ve never been more of a presence than they are on “Burning Moon.”

They give the track a stateliness that speaks to their continued inspiration from ’70s heavy and also puts the listener in a more patient mindset for what’s about to take place as the extended track unfurls. After about three minutes in, a sleek, subdued and decidedly Stubbian groove locks in — particularly encouraging to hear, as it’s a new rhythm section since the last record — and Dickinson begins the first verse, shifting easily into and out of a fuzzy, rolling hook that, after its second time through, shifts via a chugging transitional riff into a guitar solo that is the gateway to the jam that will consume the remaining 15 minutes or thereabouts of the piece. It is an immersive stretch beginning with a five-minute run at about the 10-minute mark, and they do come back to ground momentarily with Hobson and Dickinson joining forces for a few lines vocally, but soon enough another fuzzed-out lead hits and from there they shift into section of bass-key-and-percussion shuffle that builds toward the rolling call-and-response crescendo circa 20 minutes in.

Soon enough that crashes its way into a fade — Hobson‘s bass holding steady — and the organ line and drums build back into the song’s final push, more melodically resonant in the keys, bass and guitar, and more propulsive in Fyfe‘s drums as one might expect to close a work of such breadth. The finish itself is a series of hits that provide a progressive culmination and end suddenly, cold, as if to highlight the point that all of the preceding motion was not simple instrumental meandering but the outcome of a purposeful and directed approach. Indeed, Stubb have said the plan is for Burning Moon to become a series of between-album releases. Ambitious, but not impossible. If this turns out to merely be a first installment of some greater idea, the scope on offer will no doubt continue to widen, but as it stands, it’s the farthest to-date that Stubb have pushed their sound, and they do so in a manner both vibrant and individualized. Whether you call it an EP or a single, there’s no doubt it will stand among 2017’s best short releases.

Please enjoy the stream of “Burning Moon” below, followed by more info courtesy of the band:

Recorded Jan 2017 at Skyhammer Studios, England, by Chris Fielding.
Music by Stubb
Produced by Chris Fielding/Stubb

Stubb is:
Jack Dickinson – Guitar/Vox
Tom Hobson – Bass/Vox
Tom Fyfe – Drums/percussion

Ewan Duffus – Keys

Burning Moon is part one of the Burning Moon Trilogy, a story about the end of the Earth. The idea is to release the other 2 parts in between albums.

This is the first track that we have released with Tom Hobson on bass//vox. Special guest Ewan Duffus is on keys. He played on our cover of “Little Wing” for the Best of James Marshal Hendrix compilation (MER).

We don’t have a label for this yet, so it will be available for download from our Bandcamp on the weekend of the April 29th (Desertfest London). What ever happens this will definitely be available on CD and Vinyl at some point in the future.

We’ll be playing the tune in full for the first time with Ewan, and we are very lucky to be joined by Thomas Mowforth of Limb and Zel Kaute of Vodun on percussion. Sat 29th April, The Black Heart, Desertfest London.

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