Cue The Moon - Thought Forgotten Spoken



Bands may not realise it, but artwork can and does have an impact on how their record is viewed. My example is Cue The Moon with their album 'Thought Forgotten Spoken' which is so strange in its indie-esque ways, that I knew straight away that it would be one of the first going into my record player and if I was in a store, buying at a whim (does anyone else do that?), this is the sort of album art that would catch my eye and make me purchase it, even if I hadn't heard previously.

Buying albums due to the art, can be disastrous at best most often, luckily for Cue The Moon though, this isn't the case for them. 'Thought Forgotten Spoken' is perhaps one of the weirdest albums I have ever listened to and I say that as a huge compliment. It starts off with 'Its Me, Oh Lord', a lo-fi recording of a child singing something that I remember singing at primary school and from there it just gets weirder with 'Pox' and its weird keyboard melody and general Sparklehorse sound. It isn't all quirky fun and games though, Cue The Moon also know how to write something charming. 'Choose Your Weapon' is grandiose with a beautiful guitar melody backed by a wonderful nursery rhyme esque chorus and absolutely phenomenal sounding violins. 'Skin A Devil' picks things up, driven by a funky Beck bassline and a vocal delivery that we have probably become familiar with via Porcupine Tree. 'Thought Forgotten Spoken' really is a genre jumper of the best kind, just when you think you think they sound like Sparklehorse, they turn into Radiohead, then Porcupine Tree, then The Cooper Temple Clause and it never seems to end, I could list literally a hundred bands who Cue The Moon sound like but ultimately, they are just hugely original, highly talented and 'Thought Forgotten Spoken' is them at the height of their power showing off the fine craft of their art.

So take some advice; Be like me, look at the artwork for this record and pick it up without even hearing it, you won't regret it and you'll have found one of the best albums this year.

5/5