Nashville indie/alt-rock outfit Moon Taxi has released its sixth studio album, Set Yourself Free.
The five-member group—comprised of vocalist/guitarist Trevor Terndrup, lead guitarist Spencer Thomson, bassist Tommy Putnam, keyboardist Wes Bailey, and drummer Tyler Ritter—made some conscious reaches both musically and lyrically on Set Yourself Free. It’s difficult to pin any single genre on the record—it moves from instrumental prog-lite to dreamy synth-pop to wistful folk and beyond—but the end result is an immersive collection songs that maintain a cohesive feel even as they zig-zag across the stylistic spectrum.
“I think a lot of that freedom comes with having done it for a long time and on album number six, you’re no longer trying to find your sound like you are in earlier albums. You can kind of do what you want and then objectively look at it towards the end,” said Putnam of the new record. “You just trust yourself and your ear.”
“We didn’t exactly sit down and have an agenda for what the album was going to sound like,” added lead guitarist Spencer Thomson. “We just worked on songs for a long period of time and then the last couple of months have been more of a discovery process—discovering what we’ve actually been doing and trying to make sense of the whole thing. So instead of going for some goal that we set out for, it was more just exploring things and seeing how they all work together. We just leave all our opinions in and that makes it more like a Moon Taxi record – it’s all our inside input rather than outside input.”
“It was really rewarding for each of us. The last record had quite a few co-writes—this record did not. We challenged ourselves to write most of the material on our own and that’s really something to hang your hat on these days when you typically hire an outside writer or producer,” said Bailey on the band’s creative process. “We really tried to look inward and do a lot of that on our own.”
Added Turndrup, “During the pandemic, we got used to FaceTime songwriting. For better or worse, it’s been a great way for everyone to collaborate remotely. The lyrics for the title track, ‘Set Yourself Free’, were even written on a 5-way call. And the song shows that collaborative color throughout. “The idea of falling back on someone you trust is so important nowadays. But truly it’s how we’ve tried to operate as a band for all these years.”
Listen to Set Yourself Free, the new album from Moon Taxi, via the Spotify player below.
Moon Taxi – Set Yourself Free – Full Album
Later this year, Moon Taxi will head out on a lengthy Set Yourself Free tour in support of the new album. The three-month trek, featuring support from The Stews, will make stops in Atlanta, Nashville, Boston, Cleveland, and many more. Click below for a complete list of upcoming Moon Taxi tour dates. For ticketing details, head here.