In promotion of their fourth album Forever, released just six days ago, the London indie quarter presided over a short and very sweet set of stripped back tunes as a prelude to an in store album signing at Rough Trade records. There’s a pervading sense of novelty with the 7.30pm kick off and family friendly atmosphere; one can spot several young children, both amidst the crowd and in the arms of a parent. It’s perhaps the familial politeness that explains the somewhat muted reception as the four ladies come into view. Seemingly picking up on the low-key vibe, frontwoman Jules Jackson jokes “If you could just stare in complete silence while we tune up…” However, she then offers the charming gesture of ushering the audience – particularly the “small people” – toward the stage for a better view.
And I am sure that any improved views will have been appreciated, considering that the band’s all-seated, mostly acoustic stage set up leaves them all only partially visible from the vantage point at the back of the room. But, indeed, this is how such tight record store appearances should work, and the lack of a view is more than compensated for by the sonic benefits of such imtimacy. The eight song set begins with ‘F.O.R.E.V.E.R’, a harmony-laden standout from the new record wherein Jackson posits that, following the apocalypse, a sort of benign, spiritual eternity awaits: “When Earth has stopped spinning, something else will take its turn.”
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the stripped-back format is how crystal clear the band’s adroit use of vocal harmony is. ‘You Remind Me That I’m Dying (and that it’s good to be alive)’ – a song where Jackson issues a slight chuckle in introduction, perhaps due to its verbose and markedly profound seeming title – features all four members shifting between lead and group backing vocals. The lowkey setup for the most part has Jackson strumming an acoustic guitar, bassist Celia Archer and lead guitarist Soph Nathan offering lightly distorted, subtle instrumentation and drummer Fern Ford switching between keyboard and keeping time with a percussive shaker.
However, in the case of ‘Gravity’, the preferred instrumental arrangement is paired back further to just Jackson’s acoustic and Nathan’s electric guitars. This has Archer joking that she just has to sing at the chorus, and can effectively “phone it in.” It is Jackson, however, who lands a clearly errant chord and, charmingly, the song briefly falls apart such is her difficulty in balancing laughter with lead vocal duties. Though Forever sees the group at their most poppy and disco-tinged, a fact that isn’t particularly obvious given tonight’s format, there is no mistaking how the song delivers yet another rousing four-way harmony chorus.
Much has been written about Jackson being diagnosed with a cholesteatoma – a cyst inside the middle ear that requires surgical intervention – in 2024; it resulted in her losing most of the hearing on one side, and the latest album was a conscious attempt to embrace positivity and write upbeat songs as a sort of musical salve. This perhaps explains the dancefloor sheen that pervades the new record but songs like ‘Sounds’ – performed here with Jackson solo on guitar, and the band again contributing as a harmony quartet – reveal that this event in Jackson’s life has also provided space for mortal introspection: “Sounds like I am going to lose something very dear to me/If not now, then eventually.”
In addition to their undoubted talents as songwriters and musicians, a majorly appealing aspect of The Big Moon is their natural bonhomie and badinage on stage. They chat and banter away, in the natural way that friends do, and not just as a performative segway to get from one song to another in front of a crowd. In seems quite evident that the band’s four women share the often elusive joy of mutual chemisty and, in a career that now spans in excess of a decade, have forged the firmest of friendships. Jackson mentions the upcoming “big show” at Trinity Centre on 22nd November, and promises an impressive five metre long mirrored “Forever” sign as a backdrop. This causes Archer to sarcastically retort “They’re coming for your songs, Jules.”
Archer then thanks “newbies and old faithfuls” for supporting the band, and declares that, due to her parental responsibilities, she needs to leave the record signing at 8.45pm to be with her baby. Jackson, with a healthy distance from the rote demands of her job title mentions the merch stand before ironically stating “we have to say these things.” The forty minute set ends with old favourite ‘Your Light’, from 2020 sophomore album Walking Like We Do. Again, there is a laugh in Jackson’s voice upon her opening vocal; on this evidence, her decision to seek out joy in times of adversity appears to be working.
Scott Hammond
