Damian Lazarus' magical live project 'The Ancient Moons' returns today with their new single "Five Moons".
The band led by Damian Lazarus is comprised of Ben Chetwood on drums, Rob Gentry on keyboards and new vocalist J Appiah. 'On Five Moons' they are also joined by the Australian punk sensation Chela for a dubbed out, soulful excursion into the darker recesses of the dancefloor.
The Ancient Moons first debuted in 2014 with 'Lover's Eyes', and followed that with the acclaimed album 'Message From The Other Side', dubbed a "journey into techno's dreamiest recesses" by The Fader and a "psychedelic masterpiece" by Vice. Since then, The Ancient Moons have travelled the world with their highly immersive live show, supported Roisin Murphy on tour and played at Glastonbury festival and Melt! amongst others.
Hot on the heels of this summer's anthemic release 'I Found You', Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons return with another heavy hitter: 'Fly Away' complete with stupendous Dennis Ferrer remix. 'Fly Away' is another great beguiling, soulful masterpiece by Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, featuring the inimitable vocal talents of Afronaut Zu, who transcendent vocal leanings underpin the lush evocative production of the effortless string laden grooves.
On the flip and Dennis Ferrer delivers a monster of a remix; jacking the groove, dubbing Zu's vocal and mesmerizing the dancefloor to maximum effect !
Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons return to Crosstown Rebels with the iconic I Found You , remixed by Black Coffee and former resident of Trouw Patrice Bäumel.
Lazarus closed his Day Zero festival with I Found You back in Jnauary, and since then it has become one of the most requested tracks. His magical live projecy The Ancient Moons was first unleashed in 2014 with Lover's Eyes (mohe Pi Ki najariya) and followed in 2015 by the highly acclaimed album, A Message From The Other Side, co-produced with James Ford. Since then, Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons have travelled the world with their highly immersive live show, supported Roisin Murphy on tour and played at Glastonbury Festival and Melt! among others.
The Fader labelled The Ancient Moons "a journey into techno's dreamiest recesses" and the four pieces have been continually shrouded in mystery. Last year Lazarus and his collection of musicians retreated into the Italian countryside and started to work on new and self-produced material. The Ancient Moons brings together Zulu on vocals, Ben Chetwood on electronics and Rob Gentry on the keys. I Found You is the first fruit of their labor. Continuing a path first started by the band's anthemic single Vermillion, I Found You is intensely soulful, warm and paired with anthemic vocals from singer Zulu. This is the first of a string of tracks from the band in 2017.
Lazarus comments "This is the first time I've created music in a band situation and I loved every moment of it. I decided to make the new music as a collective and the four of us have created magic. The energy that we enjoyed from beginning to end of this process was electric."
2015 saw Damian Lazarus create his most ambitious project to date in The Ancient Moons, producing a full length album 'Message From The Other Side' with a wide assortment of vocalists and collaborators from around the world. They went on to support Roisin Murphy on tour, gain acclaim from the likes of Daze & Confused and Lazarus became the final coverstar of the year in the UK's Mixmag magazine.
Now the tracks from 'The Other Side' have been reinterpreted by an assortment of stars, from techno stalwarts Juan Atkins&Kimyon Huggins, to German experimental talent Kölsch, and Acid Pauli's sprawling fusion of weirdness. The original material is ploughed in new and surprising directions by Black Butter's own Gorgon City and Mehmet Asian, resident at Berlin's infamous Wilde Renate Club
Talent from Lazarus' label Crosstown Rebels, including Francesca Lombardo, DrumTalkand Israeli trio Red Axes also produce their own visions for the music, all of which retain the mysticism of the original with added dancefloor appeal. The final four tracks revisit some of the biggest moments from The Moons to date, as the album revisits interpretations from Jamie Jones, Dixon, Serge Devantand &Me.
Co-produced by James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco, Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine), The Ancient Moons was always a unique project, which has now been stretched to include the flavors of some of the most exciting artists shaping the musical landscape right now.
Recorded in Mexico, LA and London, 'The Other Side' features instrumentalists from Mozambique, Guinea, Pakistan, Egypt, America and even Mexico's own Yucatan Symphony Orchestra
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Tracklist:
1. Adventures Of The Ancient Moons (Juan Atkins And Kimyon Huggins Remix)
2. Lover's Eyes (Mohe Pi Ki Najariya) (Mehmet Asian Remix)
3. Message From The Other Side (Red Axes Remix)
4. Trouble At The Séance (Kölsch Remix)
5. We Will Retrun (Francesca Lombardo Remix)
6. Sacred Dance Of The Demon (Gorgon City Remix)
7. Eyes Won't Let Me Hide (DrumTalk Remix)
8. Tangled Web (Acid Pauli Remix)
9. Lover's Eyes (Mohe Pi Ki Najariya) (Dixon Re-Edit)
Back from a whirlwind tour this summer taht included Glastonbury, Melt & Wilderness festivals plus a much-lauded residency at Heart in Ibiza, performing Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons' eccentric and immersive debut album for the first time, the band unveil their third single, "We Will Return".
Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons brings together a wide assortment of vocalists, collaborators and players from around the world and was joined at the production controls by James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco, Arctic Monkeys, Florence). Taking inspiration from Lazarus's Lazpod series, Get Lost events and Day Zero Festival in Mexico, the resulting album "Message From The Other Side" is a rich and ambitious project featuring musicians from LA, Egypt, Pakistan, Mozambique and Mexico's Yucatan Symphony Orchestra.
One of the UK's finest electronic songwriter and vocalist, Ali Love rose to fame providing vocals for The Chemical Brothers hit, "Do It Again", for their 2007 album "We Are The Night". Appearing since on Columbia Records, Back Yard Recordings and co-penning the Justice single "Civilization", used in the biggest Adidas commercial to date, Ali is now part of two of the biggest current dance acts: Infinity Ink and Hot Natured, the latter playing Coachella this year and scoring a place in the UK top 40 charts.
Vermillion is the lead single for the forthcoming album from Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons. Channeling the magic of those hazy, sunrise parties Vermillion captures the globetrotting influences of Damian lazarus's new album. Featured here is a exclusive limited 7" version, released especially for Record Store Day, on the flip is the psychedelic opus "Mourning Of The Passing Flamingo". Please note this is limited to 100 copies.
Transported to glistering new realms, the bubbling deep house rolls beneath the revelatory soul of LA singer-songwriter and guitarist Moses Sumney, is the first of two appearances from the singer on the forthcoming album "Message From The Other Side". Album out May 18th.
A career spent Djing across the globe was the catalyst for Lazarus's latest project - Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons. Co-produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, the new album brings together an assortment of vocalists, collaborators and players from around the world, all taking inspiration from his Lazpod series, Get Lost events and Day Zero Festival in Mexico.
Pete Tong’s ‘Essential New Tune’ last week, ‘Vermillion’ is the lead single for the forthcoming album from Damian Lazarus & the Ancient Moons. Channeling the magic of those hazy, sunrise parties Vermillion captures the globetrotting influences of Damian Lazarus’s new album.
Transported to glistening new realms, the bubbling deep house rolls beneath the revelatory soul of LA singer-songwriter and guitarist Moses Sumney, is the first of two appearances from the singer on the forthcoming album ‘Message from the Other Side’. Album out May 18th available to pre-order - http://geni.us/MessageFromTheOtherS
Released on 30th of April, ‘Vermillion’ lands with an inter-stellar remix package. French techno connoisseur Agoria leads us on a minimal, spaced out trip through shining synths and swift vocal echoes. Acclaimed house maverick and Hot Creations head honcho Jamie Jones has been closing his DJ sets for the last few weeks with his own remix. Its bouncing, old school house tip bounding beneath bright gospel turns of phrase, approaching near classic status with arms aloft receptions on the dancefloor. And finally Berlin’s Deniz Kurtel, who pulls her penchant for polyrhythmic percussion to the fore, casting sweet tribal grooves across an original surely destined to become a dancefloor anthem this summer.
A career spent DJing across the globe was the catalyst for Lazarus’s latest project – Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons. Co-produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, the new album brings together an assortment of vocalists, collaborators and players from around the world, all taking inspiration from his Lazpod series, Get Lost events and Day Zero festival in Mexico.
"Message From The Other Side" is the title track from the forthcoming album by Damian lazarus & The Ancient Moons.
A career spent DJing across the globe was the catalyst for Damian Lazarus's latest project - Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons. Masterminded by Lazarus, the album brings together a wide assortment of vocalists, collaborators and players from around the world. Taking inspiration from Lazarus's Lazpod series, Get Lost events & Day Zero Festival in Mexico, this is music for deserts, jungles and sunrises.
Kicking off in L.A., Lazarus was joined at the production controls by James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco, Arctic Monkeys, Florence) as the album moved to London, and then final recordingsessions completed in Mexico. The resulting album, "Message From The Other Side", is a revelation. It runs the gamut from the wonderful Qawwali-flavoured techno of last year's alternative dance hit 'Lovers Eyes (Mohe Pi Ki Najariya)' to the African-tinged house of 'Sacred Dance Of The Demon', dense dark ambient of 'Inner Core', and the bubbling depths of forthcoming single 'Vermillion', this is a rich and ambitious album.
"There is nothing that compares to DJing under the stars Lazarus explains. "In the night air or being responsible for soundtracking the rising of the sun and I wanted to create an album that reflects these beautiful moments".
Lazarus brought together the widest range of musicians to achieve his goals. Initially there was Moses Sumney, an LA singer-songwriter and guitarist whose vocals light up the dynamic deep house groove of 'Vermillion', and the epic closing number, 'Tangled Web'. lazarus's long-standing friend and associate Ali Love, contributes vocals to the soulful groove of 'We Will Return'.
Other collabs came from further afield, Hossam Ramzy, an Egyptian master-percussionist, most famous for his work on Jimmy Page & Robert Plant's 'No Quarter' album laid down the amazing rhythm tracks for The Ancient Moons. ELEW (Eric Lewis), an American jazz pianist palyed a 'treated piano' in an unexpected, experimental way. Lazarus and Ford turned to Andrew Waterworth, double bassist, with the acclaimed Penguin Café for the album's lush string arrangements courtesy of Mexico's Yucatan Symphony Orchestra.
Meanwhile, Fareed Ayaz, Abu Muhammad & Hamza Akram, are Pakistan's leading exponents of Qawwali singing, the hypnotic sacred Sufi music that Lazarus fell in love with after hearing it on the soundtrack of political thriller 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'. They appear not only on 'Lovers Eyes (Mohe Pi Ki Najariya)', but also the spaced out, sitar-laden 'Amber Palace', a piece that features the sitar work of Sidartha Siliceo, a former student of Ravi Shankar.
Keen to include an Afro-beat flavour, Lazarus turned to the studio owner brother's wife, a princess of Guinean origin whose vocals became the centerpiece of the bubbly, joyful 'Sacred Dance Of The Demon'. Adding to the vibe on the same track is an appearance by Mozambican guitar prodigy Neco Novellas.
By gatherring this gumbo of music from across the globe lazarus has created a collection that's as happy on the dancefloor as off, a set of songs and moods that work both as an album and, when cherry-picked, as a groove that would move from Ibiza to San Francisco to the UK festivel circuit. It's also a body of work which will be coming to life and touring when they hit the road in 2015.
