MOONLIFE: Reach The Stars

Moonlife

Reach The Stars

© 2003 Planet Xox (808622000022)

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12 new slices of upbeat electronic pop and downtempo moody anthems. Moby dancing with the Monkees, then meets now...

notes

"Reach The Stars" is Moonlife's second release containing 12 new slices of electronic pop. Contained here you'll find upbeat dance beats and downtempo moody numbers.

The album kicks off with the synth-glam-rock anthem "Can't Stop", cunningly mixing a stonking rock-riff with zippy synth trills. This is how The Cars would sound if they crashed into Gary Numan's own classic vehicle.

"Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" then takes us on a mid-tempo tour of the mysteries of relationships, complete with atmospheric sweeps and electronic dips and wails evoking the likes of Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys.

When "Cruel" comes along it blends elements of goth, trip-hop and electronica with huge haunting vocals.

Up next is "I Heard You (On The Telephone)" which has been Moonlife's biggest online hit to date. Mixing a 00's dance beat with 80's synth hooks and 60's pop riffs, this is how The Monkees would sound in The Matrix. How can you lose with a song that doubles as a ringtone?

Now we change pilots in this intergalactic voyage as Cassaundra takes over lead vocals on "No More". This classic power ballad has a Beatle-esque feel and a stadium-sing-a-long chorus.

It's up to Heaven next for the devilishly irresistible "Angel". A tale of good meets bad on the dancefloors this track will have you up and dancing before the DJ hits that button!

Now we take a breather with the melencholy "Quarantine", letting our hearts catch up with our feet.

Before you know it, the pressure is back on as Moonlife assume Queen's throne while Bowie takes a bow, a nod, and even a wink. This is "Under Pressure" for the 00's!

Now, as the stars twinkle in the darkness, the haunting plea of "Think Of Me" tells the tale of the other side of love. This one is for lovers of the bittersweet melencholy electronic ballad.

Once more we launch into hyperspeed for "Far Away". It's as if Moby had a love affair with Transvision Vamp and this was their illicit offspring.

Turning once more toward the dark side of the moon, "Failing" takes us into a beautiful and lonely ballad about never being able to reach the unreachable stars. To dream, perhaps...

And what is it all really about? Looking back along the paths we've taken "That Was Then" weaves it's magic from a mix of Portishead and Chris Isaac. That was then... This is now.

So, in reaching for the stars, we find beautiful glittery galaxies and dark lonely spaces - we call it Moonlife.

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Earthbound influences for Moonlife include 00's europop, 90's alternative, 80's new wave, 70's glam, and 60's pop. Sounding something like a mesh of Moby and Flash Gordon, The Monkees and The Matrix, Moonlife meld space-age pop with catchy alterna-rock. You can almost hear the orbiting alien space ships with their stereos blasting.

reviews

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  • Insanely catchy!
    author: The Wig Fits All Heads

    If Moonlife’s Reach the Stars doesn’t remind you of the deliriously happy (at least on the surface) keyboard-heavy alternative pop on Jim Keller’s "Resurrection Flashback Sunday" program on Seattle’s KNDD-FM, then you’re deaf. "I Heard You (On the Telephone)", with its insanely catchy, simple chorus and Atari 2600 bleeps, is the Buggles hit that never was. The nostalgia factor is high, and Moonlife takes you back, whether you like it or not, into the clubs. What’s shocking is that Reach the Stars is far more consistent than many of the records it owes its influences to. There are plenty more splendid tracks on here, for example, than on any of the LPs by Real Life and Re-Flex, and Q-Feel can’t hold a candle to these lads. "Can’t Stop" and "Angel" have the cozy feel of a high-school jacket that still fits and brings back memories.

  • Dancing in heaven.
    author: CD Reviews

    On Reach the Stars, Moonlife are dancing in heaven, utilizing layers of vintage New Romantic keyboard sounds to create their own form of orbital be-bop. To most music listeners in their thirties, Reach the Stars covers familiar terrain: the bouncy, electronic chorus of "I Heard You (On the Telephone)" recalls the Buggles’ "Video Killed the Radio Star"; "Cruel" is reminiscent of vintage New Order; and the other tracks reveal the influence of Erasure and Depeche Mode. Now Moonlife are caught in a Catch-22 – too commercial for the independent scene, too independent for the commercial scene. But with a group like the Bravery penetrating the mainstream with even more synthesizers and Duran Duran-styled vocal hooks, Moonlife is going to Reach the Stars eventually...

  • Not bad.
    author: Smother.net

    These guys have had their fair share of poppy gothic leaning techno. They're routed firmly in the New Order frameset of music. It's not all bad, in fact "Angel" is probably as catchy and awesome as any 80's era techno outfit could manage to create. A lot of folks will cast this off as derivative and that's the falling point of this record; it's easily classifiable and certainly predictable but that doesn't make it any less fun.

  • One of the year's best albums
    author: Shotgun

    People seem to have a guilt complex when it comes to admitting a preference for certain ‘80s New Wave artists. Of course, this isn’t case with New Wave fans that have no problems with walking in public in a Depeche Mode T-shirt. But for the most part the synthesizer brotherhood from the NW family often gets tossed in the “guilty pleasures” category as if listening to Bronski Beat or the Human League is equal to watching Jerry Springer or downloading Asian porn. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, the electronic pop group Moonlife seem to be saying on their album cover, proudly garbed in glam and gothic threads that scream totally ‘80s (and also late ‘70s). Well, their self-confidence is understandable; you, too, would have your head up after releasing one of the year’s best albums.

  • Immaculate recreation of '80s alterna dance; hook-driven synth pop; engaging bal
    author: ReviewCentre

    Moonlife Reach the Stars: Somebody must've shot through the fabric of reality, bolted into the '80s, and kidnapped Moonlife for today's consumption. Moonlife certainly do not long belong in this time period and bless them for that. Colourfully attired New Wave trio Moonlife subscribe to '80s aesthetics, which they showcase with unrestrained abandon. You know the drill, Rock of the '80s youngsters: bleeping synthesizers, ice-cube English vocals, sad-sack lyrics. There was once a time when dinosaurs like Heaven 17, the Human League, and Kon Kan tossed glistening electronic ditties like confetti. Moonlife is a reminder of how those sounds are deeply missed. Avoiding the post-punk angle recently adopted by a flock of U.K. upstarts, Moonlife head straight to the computer room - or the nearest dance club. Pogo-inducing numbers such as "I Heard You (On The Telephone)" and "Can't Stop" would've been slobbered over by KROQ's Richard Blade back in the day. But it's not just about dancing in heaven for these 24 hour party people. "Cruel" is perhaps the finest love-will-tear-us-apart again ballad since Prefab Sprout's "When Love Breaks Down" in 1985.

  • Let's do the time warp again.
    author: Ink19

    Moonlife might be sick of being compared to artists from the '80s New Wave, but there's no way of getting around it. Is that a keyboard homage to the Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost in You" on "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow?" Most likely. Listening to Moonlife is like sifting through a high-school yearbook from the '80s. Some may complain that the music is dated, but that's what makes it so appealing. Vintage synthesizers pour from the walls, creating a retro high-tech atmosphere that is impossible to resist if you spent your adolescence grooving to Erasure, Yaz and Depeche Mode. Track after track of keyboard-washed sublime pop; even the instrumental "Quarantine" is worthy of repeated spins. Moonlife carve dreamy textures, filling in the spaces with romantic crooning (best on the blue valentine "Cruel," which recalls Lloyd Cole, albeit with synthesizers) and lush, swishing keyboards. The utilization of both male and female vocals is a nice touch. There's a tinge of sadness to these songs, which has always been the New Wave style. "No More" is serves as a woman's reaction to "Cruel," melancholy, rainy-day balladry with that loving '80s caress. This is an extraordinary disc, one that is nostalgic and entertaining from beginning to end.

  • fine electro pop
    author: Whisperin & Hollerin

    Grunge may have killed the New Wave star, but it was only temporary. A line from a Stephen King short story perhaps summed it the best: sometimes they come back. And while the New Wave revival, headed from the Top of the Pops by the Killers and Franz Ferdinand, is no longer breaking news, Moonlife rocket into mostly synthetic waters that today's popular Neo acts have yet to fully plunge into. Shockingly, not only does Moonlife accurately rewind to mid-'80s club daze, they have recorded an album that can be held next to the finest from electro-pop heroes such as Soft Cell, Erasure, and the Pet Shop Boys. The first track, "Can't Stop," sets the stage for this candy cane. Awash with spunky keyboards and breathy vocals, "Can't Stop" is a throwback to the days of groups like the Beloved which mastered the art of sensuous, calming dance music with a jumpy backbeat. Vocalist Claudio Tinnirello should be thanked for not aping Erasure's Andy Bell like too many modern synth acts. He has his own style, one that will remind you of the '80s but not one singer in particular. "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" and "I Heard You (On the Telephone)" are sheer Big '80s bliss. Oddly enough, Moonlife's original songs are so attractive and hummable that their cover of David Bowie's "Under Pressure" feels unnecessary. Their own tunes are far better, and Bowie would probably even agree.

  • Unique Synth-Pop Album!
    author: Jules Woods

    Reach the Stars by Moonlife is a unique synth-pop album! My favorite song on the album is Failing which is a dark, moody song with a killer piano sound. I also really enjoyed the song That Was Then as it reminded me of something that would have been on The Beach soundtrack alongside Moby’s song, Porcelain or the All Saints track. It’s a dreamy song that leaves you feeling reminiscent of times past. Another one of my favorites is I Heard You because it is a cool, catchy dance song. There are not very many happy carefree songs out there anymore which is what makes this song so refreshing.

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