Luna
A Sentimental Education
Double Feature Records
Hearing new music from Luna is akin to finding an old, beloved sweater hanging in a closet that still fits. A Sentimental Education is Luna’s first new work since Rendezvous from 13 years ago. The lineup is still the same – Lee Wall, drums, Sean Eden guitars, Britta Phillips on bass and Dean Wareham on vocals and guitar, and the sound? Well, they still got “it”…whatever it is. There is something unique and precious about the sound Luna makes. Is it the interplay of Dean’s and Sean’s guitars, subtle yet dramatic? Sure. Is it the rock-steady rhythm section of Phillips and Wall? Indeed. But beyond the interplay of the four there is something almost magical that occurs, something that is more than the sum of the quartet, a shared vision of smoky bars and endless days spinning records.
Luna took 10 of their favorite songs from those records to assemble the first disc, all covers. Starting with The Cure’s “Fire In Cairo”, you can’t really call it a cover record, because from Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time” to Bowie’s “Letter To Hermione”, Luna defines their interpretation of their contemporaries much the same way Frank Sinatra did. A Sinatra song sounded like Frank, despite the composer, and such is the same with Luna on A Sentimental Education. The titles tend to the obscure – an early Yes track “Sweetness”, or a Doug Yule-penned Velvet Underground song “Friends”, but no matter. Whether you’re familiar or not, it really doesn’t matter, so engaging and “Luna-eques” are the results that you’ll sit in headphone heaven, listening to the brilliant guitars and Wareham’s resigned vocals. You know, Luna.
The second disc, A Place Of Greater Safety are six instrumentals, which are completely dreamy, even without vocals. Luna was one of the leading lights of the ’90s indie scene, and their return to recording is both welcome and overdue. So put on that favorite sweater. It’s better than ever.
