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Brooklyn-based alt-rocker Moon Walker shares new fiery single & video "Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)" out everywhere now ahead of his electrifying sophomore LP The Attack Of Mirrors, including a limited run on vinyl, due out October 21 and available for pre-order now.
"Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)" opens with a groovy bassline with fuzzy vocals that meld into powerful, dark societal commentary, critiquing everything from capitalism, to the distrust of media, to the hyper-surveilled, hyper-policed place the U.S. has become. It's a song that sonically and lyrically Moon Walker feels best represents his music and message as a whole, aptly embodying the narrative of the forthcoming album.
Its accompanying video portrays a matching dystopia, depicting a man in a room alone watching an old television set as Moon Walker appears on the screen performing the track in a red-lit room who, while performing, soon begins taunting the viewer, and rattles off new laws in place. The alt-rocker is then seen behind a computer, coding what plays on the TV as the government bans are announced and secretly communicates with the police officer, together, manipulating the viewer. The man is soon met with the police officer who enforces the laws inside his home, banning books and listening to the radio, then periodically places Uncle Sam propaganda-style posters that read "Moon Walker is watching you" signifying the heavily controlled, manipulated media.
Explaining the video's inspiration, director Madison McConnell explains, "The song felt dystopian to me, so I took heavy inspiration from [1924 Russian novel] 'We' and [George Orwell's] '1984' when writing the video. I drew from those book’s themes of lack of privacy and control."
Watch "Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)"
Moon Walker's highly anticipated, biting sophomore album, The Attack Of Mirrors, finds the musician elevate his nostalgic, alternative garage rock sound over ten eclectic tracks. Springer expands on the poignant, timely lyrics and the thrashing garage rock sound that made his first offering such a success, while also introducing multiple new elements into the fold. With his second LP, Moon Walker reflects on the various effects the pandemic had on his life, and took a hard look in the mirror. Moon Walker explains, "Making this record was really my way of navigating through the pandemic. In addition to the emotional havoc that was wreaked on the vast majority of human beings, I felt like my career was reaching a dead end. My band was breaking up, jobs weren't easy to come by, my first solo record hadn't yet seen any success, and my future felt more uncertain than it ever had before. When so little in life is going your way, it's easy to start hating what you see in the mirror. And when you hate what you see in the mirror, you tend to put a lot of hatred into the world."
Beginning to grow increasingly disillusioned, Moon Walker continues, "Plus, the political climate was unbelievably volatile. I think that the mixture of being deprived of social interaction for several years and watching so many absolutely vile ideologies rise to the surface left me feeling extremely alienated. It's difficult to have any desire to rejoin a society that is genuinely divided on issues like anti-LGBT legislation, and misogynistic Supreme Court Rulings. I wonder if so many people would so proudly advocate for hatred, segregation and oppression if they learned to stop hating what they saw in the mirror."
Recalling his 2021 debut album, Moon Walker says, “On 'Truth to Power,' I really just played to my strengths,” Moon Walker says. “Write a guitar riff, a bassline and drum part, and double the guitar. I approached things the way you would on an eight-track, when you’ve got limited resources and limited space.” Where Truth to Power may have employed a "less is more" ideology, The Attack Of Mirrors sees Springer favoring a more experimental, maximalist approach. The results are an undeniably exciting, thought-provoking and well-rounded record that will be as rewarding to hear for the 100th time as it will be on a first listen.
Today's release follows the previously shared hard-hitting, provocative singles "The Stolen City" "Pins & Needles," "The Price of Life Itself," and "I'm Afraid I'll Go To Heaven." Released most recently, over shredding guitar riffs, distorted vocals and a haunting backing instrumental, "The Stolen City" confronts the hidden histories of modern American cities that are quick to stamp out their true, often dark, history and culture in place of a more polished, idyllic facade. Equipped with a true fearlessness and a deep desire to confront harsh realities embedded in society, each of the musician's spirited releases continue to elevate his sound and cement his message.
The angsty "Pins & Needles" sees Moon Walker fight against the pervasive feelings of comparison and the disillusionment that comes with feeling stuck. He aims to keep himself afloat while seemingly everyone else is moving faster and achieving more, along with its accompanying video where viewers are invited through an empty NYC subway car. Plunging into more weighty subject matter, "The Price Of Life Itself" grapples with the deeply flawed structures that lay at the foundation of American society. Through reverberated vocals and grainy electric guitar, the track came about when the artist saw a militarized police response to an entirely peaceful protest with his own eyes in the midst of the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations. With the ethos of the track shown in the concluding lines, "We can stay above the water, while still lending a hand to those who sink / The price of life itself." The track's accompanying video brings viewers into a sinking rabbit hole à la Alice in Wonderland, available to view here.
The dark, synthy lead single "I'm Afraid I'll Go To Heaven" is a bold look at religion as it pertains to the modern political system and like much of Moon Walker's music, strikes a balance between sarcasm and sincerity. Watch the accompanying surreal, The Shining-inspired video here. The commanding track has proven to be a fan-favorite as it's garnered over 500,000 streams on Spotify alone.
Formed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harry Springer created Moon Walker initially as a way to pass time and make extra money through selling songs to sound libraries. Today, Springer composes, produces and performs under the moniker after Moon Walker's debut album, Truth to Power, turned the heads of several tastemakers and garnered millions of streams on Spotify.
Westword called Moon Walker's work, "Fuzzed-out 70's rock bliss...politically charged rock music with a sound akin to the White Stripes. Lyrically, the songs are confrontational and sarcastic." New Noise Magazine encouraged listeners to, "Envision a beautiful marriage between The White Stripes, The Talking Heads, even Wild Cherry...there’s a depth to Moon Walker’s music fueled by an old-soul feeling."
The warped, cutting track "Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)" and accompanying video is out everywhere now. Moon Walker's biting sophomore album The Attack Of Mirrors is out October 21 and available for pre-order now, and available for pre-order on vinyl here. Stay up-to-date with the rising rocker on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
LISTEN: "THE STOLEN CITY" | WATCH
LISTEN: "PINS & NEEDLES" | WATCH
LISTEN: "THE PRICE OF LIFE ITSELF" | WATCH
LISTEN: "I'M AFRAID I'LL GO TO HEAVEN" | WATCH
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