"Tell Me When I'm Dead" by Man Made Moon
Review
And so, inexorably, we have come to the third & final element in Man Made Moon's late-2024 singles bonanza: as promised "Tell Me When I'm Dead" comes out on Friday to complete the troika after the very well received "McNultys Bar" and "Brass Knuckles".
Following these two which saw the band step way outside the expectations of their admirers in terms of style, for a third time they've ventured into new pastures.
Possibly the group (Ben Taylor (rhythm guitar and vocals), Gary Ryan (bass), Simon Gough (lead guitar), Stuart Sheppard (keyboards) and on drums Chris Samworth) have accessed the sort of time machine which goes back to the sixties on default (judging by film & TV, that's the most popular type) or maybe they've simply decided to explore the feel & arrangements of that time, since what you get this time is neither a salute to the Men They Couldn't Hang nor funk-rock but that sort of luscious 60's pop where languid melodicism delivered a surprisingly dark story: you might think perhaps of the Kinks in their less combative moments: there is even a little eastern style lick or two to add to the flavour. Reflective and mature in its sentiments & musings, the feeling is less sombre than the title, refrain or spooky artwork courtesy of Greengaia suggest: that's skilful writing for you.
It's not too surprising that this comes out third given the apparent downbeat subject matter, but it's no lesser a number. Perfectly crafted & delivered instrumentally & vocally with the delicacy that the subtlety of the song demands, it's a third example of roads the band could plausibly take musically from this point onwards. Maybe the three were conscious explorations to branch out: possibly they felt that their trademark sound had gone as far as they wanted to take it & that repetition would devalue what went before. Quite possibly the evolving lineup played a part too. Hopefully they can find ways to take all three new roads on their journey from this point (though I'm not sure how much sense that analogy actually makes): at the very least an album of songs like any single one of these would be a fine one indeed. I look ahead to what they decide
