Steve Gunn and David Moore detailed a new collaborative album, Let The Moon Be A Planet, due out on March 23 via RVNG Intl as the first volume in the label’s Reflections series with a portion of the proceeds from the record benefitting St. John’s Bread and Life.
Let The Moon Be A Planet is an improvisational exchange between Steve Gunn on classical guitar and David Moore (Bing & Ruth) on piano. The instrumental LP sees the New York City-based musicians collaborating for the first time out of mutual admiration for each other’s work in a “project enveloped by an aura of reciprocity,” as per press materials for the album. Gunn and Moore also worked with no expectations, freeing them up even more to create.
“We were both fans of each other’s music and this was a chance to try a different process which was much more open,” Moore said. “It felt like something I needed personally as an artist, to not be so controlling over the final output, and to truly collaborate with somebody else.”
Gunn, who found an outlet for his classic guitar explorations in the project, also spoke about Let The Moon Be A Planet:
“I was trying to break out of what I was doing, to have something that just pulled away all the elements of usual structured things…We didn’t know it was going to be an album. There was never pressure on us to complete or make something. It was interesting to start realizing that this could be an album and to take a step back…to arrive at a project after the fact.”
“Our only motivation for making these tracks was that it felt good to make them and there was nothing else behind it,” Moore added. “I don’t know that I’ve ever made a record that came about so naturally.”
Let The Moon Be A Planet also carries a lo-fi, retro cinematic feel — due in part to not using “the greatest microphones.” Gunn and Moore leaned into that aesthetic and worked closely with engineer Nick Principe to conserve the vibe.
Gunn and Moore previewed Let The Moon Be A Planet with the opening track, “Over The Dune,” which arrived with a music video by Jason Evans. Check it out below:
Let The Moon be A Planet Tracklist:
- Over the Dune
- Painterly
- Scattering
- Basin
- Morning Mare
- Libration
- Paper Limb
- Rhododendron
