The Montreal group's third full-length effort,
A Blemish in the Great Night sees
Half Moon Run continuing to push their sound forward with a dynamic 13-track set of crafty indie pop confections that are both easy to digest and curiously barbed. Far removed from their indie folk origins, the band explored a more polished, studio-forward sound on 2015's excellent
Sun Leads Me On, a predilection they take to with even more gusto this time around. There's a pronounced warmth behind the crisp and clean production, especially on early album gems "Flesh and Blood" and "Natural Disaster," both of which highlight the group's immaculate harmonies. Pairing Beatlesque melodicism, breezy West Coast Americana, and glossy '80s pop works wonders on the prog-tinged "Razorblade" and the elegiac
U2-meets-"Chicago"-era
Sufjan Stevens-inspired closer "New Truth"; if we're going to keep drawing comparisons, then the sultry and silly sex romp "Jello on My Mind" owes a tip of the hat to
Cheap Trick's "Mandocello." Only the folksy "Yani's Song" harkens back to the group's more homespun genesis, but the likable
A Blemish in the Great Night, despite housing some significant lyrical undercurrents of discord, retains enough residual heat to keep your feet warm, like a thin wool blanket designed for mild evenings. ~ James Christopher Monger