Local Review: Harts & Moon – Welcome Home

Harts & Moon
Welcome Home

Self-Released
Street: 2.14.20
Harts & Moon = Tori Amos + Tove Lo 

Taylor Hartley has been producing the smartest local pop offerings for several years, and his newest project with songwriter Julian Moon is a rapid-fire listening experience as sharp as any of his prior collabs. A strange melange of electronica, acoustic guitar, dubstep and even subtle world music fills the brief (three-track) Welcome Home EP.

“Coyotes” starts off deceptively folkish and quickly takes on a chimeric tone. The edgy and interesting lyrics carry a hint of aggression, such as the chorus, for example: “Use your teeth / Make me scream.” “Tid4l” is a dark, brooding retrospective on a ruinous relationship that brought out the worst in people, possibly having turned “a good man bad.” Hartley and Moon both lend vocals to the tracks, fortunately not overworking the duet angle and holding their cards well in this aspect. 

Hartley’s top-shelf pop production lifts Welcome Home to levels fairly uncommon for local indie music, something he’s previously been able to accomplish with other regional talents including Stephanie Mabey and Sonnei. Hartley takes front stage in the final track, “After The Fall,” which features slightly Latin-inspired percussion and skillful classical guitar loops. Yet again, the imagery and narrative evokes somewhat violent and dour themes through ear-pleasing hooks—all blended with dark, synthy baselines befitting the stygian narrative.

Harts & Moon have something interesting on hand with Welcome Home, which seems to merely be a sprinkling of spiciness to pique the listener’s curiosity. Assumedly, this EP is a short glimpse into a forthcoming album, as Hartley reports that two new singles are on the board, as well as lyric videos. The duo have also recently been brought under new management in Los Angeles. This augurs well for Harts & Moon and presents an opportunity for them to show us what else they’ve got under their glittery sleeves! –Paige Zuckerman