Animal Souls
MOONDANCING
Photo Credit: Oke Chornick
MOONDANCING is the second full-length album from Animal Souls, a music collective based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. It’s a mix of old and new, with a few reimagined pieces folded in, but it doesn’t feel cobbled together. The tracks move like they belong to the same space, even when the genre shifts under your feet.
There’s no single sound holding this record in place. Some moments lean into folk, others into jazz or ambient pop. That looseness doesn’t come off as scattered though. It just feels like a group of musicians trying different things without forcing a theme. Nothing feels overproduced. Even the more layered songs leave space for each part to breathe.
There’s no single sound holding this record in place. Some moments lean into folk, others into jazz or ambient pop. That looseness doesn’t come off as scattered though. It just feels like a group of musicians trying different things without forcing a theme. Nothing feels overproduced. Even the more layered songs leave space for each part to breathe.
Michael Fisher, who leads the project, plays bass and handles production. He’s pulled in players from across the Fraser Valley and beyond, and that collaborative spirit comes through. The arrangements aren’t flashy, but they’re built with care. You can tell there’s trust between the people involved.
The three new tracks, May’s Song, Between The Lines, and Nine Lives, add something softer to the mix. They’re slower, more reflective. Soul Dance and The Lion and the Snake, which originally appeared on the Wisdom of Crowds album, have been reworked here. They don’t sound like throwbacks. They’ve been stripped down and rebuilt.
Fisher describes the record as a kind of lifetime-in-the-making, and that makes sense. There’s no urgency to it. It’s a steady, unhurried listen from a group that’s not trying to prove anything. Just offering up songs, letting them land however they land.
The three new tracks, May’s Song, Between The Lines, and Nine Lives, add something softer to the mix. They’re slower, more reflective. Soul Dance and The Lion and the Snake, which originally appeared on the Wisdom of Crowds album, have been reworked here. They don’t sound like throwbacks. They’ve been stripped down and rebuilt.
Fisher describes the record as a kind of lifetime-in-the-making, and that makes sense. There’s no urgency to it. It’s a steady, unhurried listen from a group that’s not trying to prove anything. Just offering up songs, letting them land however they land.