Ava Luna
's fifth studio album,
Moon 2
, features a slimmed-down lineup of
Carlos Hernandez
,
Julian Fader
Becca Kauffman
Felicia Douglass
, and
Ethan Bassford
. Besides continuing a trend toward more structured and, at least relatively speaking, more subdued material, it also sees
Hernandez
step back as frontman for their most democratic effort yet. Of note,
Kauffman
(aka
Jennifer Vanilla
) brought a newly acquired crate of '90s chant tapes made by women's lib groups to the sessions. The band was attracted to the patterned chants and refrains and, in contrast to their earlier albums, consciously relied more on repetition here.
also includes
's first composition for the band, "On Its Side, The Fallen," which grew from improvisation around chant. It begins with a simple stomp-and-clap-type beat before layered, unison vocals enter under heavy delay ("We confront taste/Forget the ones who told you why").
eventually introduces a lead vocal line, but the song maintains a trance-like state through its echoing blend of vocal rounds and strata. Elsewhere, they still evoke the experimental pop and R&B of bands like
tUnE-yArDs
and
Dirty Projectors
(whom
Douglass
joined as touring percussionist), especially on more upbeat tunes like "Centerline" and "Deli Run." The latter is a quirky, kinetic funk jam with staccato percussion, warped synths, playful bass, and a guitar that sometimes interacts with the bass and sometimes with the vocal melody. Still unpredictable despite its increased reliance on structure, the album offers "Moon 2" in the track list before "Moon." "Moon" closes the album on an ambient instrumental with no resolution, chordal or otherwise, as if it's to be continued. ~ Marcy Donelson