Moneen – Saying Something You Have Already Said Before: A Quiet Side Of Moneen

Generally an acoustic version of a song is as self explanatory as that – an acoustic version of a previously released song. However trying to define a Moneen “acoustic” track for someone who hasn’t heard one is as hard as explaining how a Nintendo Wii works to people who haven’t tried it. Instead of doing the usual and stripping down a song to a rawer acoustic and vocal performance, Moneen took 4 of their already epic-like, powerful emotionally charged songs from “The Red Tree” and pushed them to a new level. While the word “acoustic” can be found on the back of the album cover in brackets at the end of each song title, it’s really deceiving as each song is so much more than just a toned down acoustic performance.

A more fitting word for “acoustic” would have been “reinterpretation”. Each song has been transformed with slight tweaks, changes and a complete reworking of its musical structure to create a more passionately moving experience for the listener. Its as if a breath of fresh air has tenderly brought forth new life in these songs that are able to stand on their own even though they are “reinterpretations” of original songs. While re-recorded with some acoustic guitars, these songs are revitalized by the use of string arrangements complimented with beautiful piano work and more unique sounds and effects that can only be expressed as powerful noise. Singer Kenny Bridges vocals delicately soar above with intensity, keeping up with the profound feeling captivated in music that often makes the reworking better than the original. Along with new touches of piano and string arrangements to “Red Tree” favourites like, “There Are A Million Reasons...” and “This Is All Bigger Than Me“, is a previously unreleased b-side, “Prepare Yourself… The Worst Is Yet To Come“. This track on it’s own is a good song, but when it’s compared to the rest of the EP it doesn’t quite capture that same magic distancing itself on an astounding EP.

On the other side of the disc is the DVD portion of the package, a short but sweet segment of Moneen live at the Toronto Opera House. I believe it’s the first 4 songs of their set which gives fans a glimpse of their talent in their live performance and close to flawless live offerings of each song. Having seen Moneenlive a few times before I did notice the DVD was missing an important aspect of a real Moneen show – energy. Whether this is due to the camera work and angles used or a less all around energetic performance, it was slightly disappointing that even though it sounds amazing the energy didn’t translate as well to personally seeing them live.

The other small gripe I have is the overall presentation of both the DVD and the actual album, which have been given minimal effort with little thought put into them. Outside of the 4 live songs there is no extra content or features and its a shame that an EP this beautiful is packaged with such a bare covering. There’s no booklet, insert or any other artwork aside from the cover, leaving a digipack with 3 of its 4 sides solid black with a few notes written on top. It’s disappointing more time wasn’t put into making this album come to life with an encompassing presentation because this is a special EP that every fan needs to have.