Will Schube believes they put a man on the moon
I spent much of this past brutal Colorado winter layered in sweat pants and all-down-everything (slippers included), listening to Moonface’s Julia With Blue Jeans On over and over—Spencer Krug’s husky voice and powerful piano accompanying the seemingly constant snowfall. There’s something wonderfully intimate about Krug’s solo music, Julia sounds more like a private performance than it does a piece of recorded music. His voice is powerful enough to fight back against his unrelenting piano, displaying vocal finesse that carries with it a deep earnestness. City Wrecker appears to be the remains of the Julia sessions, and the EP’s first offering made its way around the internet today.
Accompanied by a haunting video, “City Wrecker” (the album’s title track) takes many of Julia’s aesthetics, relying on the interplay between Krug’s voice and that haunting piano tone. Krug’s voice is affected with subtle reverb, as layers of vocals swirl around phrases of lament and introspection. Consisting of a straightforward structure, “City Wrecker” puts an emphasis on the pulsating hammer of Krug’s piano. Over glimmering quarter notes, Krug sings, “I was a city wrecker then.” The track is understated—it would blend in nicely with Julia’s track list. Krug seems content—even excited—with continuing his exploration into the world of voice and piano; bringing simplicity to a discography spoiled with flourishes. There isn’t a time when I listen to Moonface and don’t yearn for a new Sunset Rubdown record, but when something like “Barbarian” (from Julia) comes on and the snow is falling and everything outside of Krug’s voice and his piano ceases to be, yearnings for past projects fade into nothingness.
