South London’s moa moa are debuting their new single Spinning, a psychedelic alt-pop jangle out on Square Leg Records. The label was founded by Charlie Andrew, renowned for his work with Alt-J and Marika Hackman. The band’s new release follows their pulsating debut Yellow Jacket, which was released earlier this year.
Moa moa came together in the summer of 2019, initially as a creative outlet for songwriter and producer James Ratcliffe, who’d been spending the year writing jingles for a brand of Turkish ice cream. As a way of being creative at the beginning of lockdown, the band teamed up with animator Tom Sharp to create the excellent mini-series Please, Slow Me Down which you can find on Youtube here.
“Spinning is a bit of a shift from where we left off last” says keyboardist Connor Foweraker, “but we’re really happy to have something so vibrant to accompany Yellow Jacket.” Vocalist James Ratcliffe adds, “Lyrically, I was trying to be playfully candid about self-love and self-acceptance. The subject matter definitely slipped into the writing, which is where the colourful backdrop to Spinning comes from.”
While their name might conjure images of a high-end fashion brand, the five-piece do deliver luxurious pop hooks, self-love and self-acceptance against a backdrop of squelchy synths and slinky guitars, akin to Unknown Mortal Orchestra or Glass Animals. For three minutes and thirty seconds moa moa’s synthetic sound reels you away from the gloomy London skies and takes you to a sunnier, happy place. Find the band on Spotify here.
Words by Ilgaz Hisirci | Photo by Lidia Huerta.
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