Kurt Vile – ‘Back to Moon Beach’ EP review: A statement for self-indulgence
“These days, I do whatever I want,” Kurt Vile declares on the opening track to his latest offering. It’s a statement he seems set out to prove true on Back to Moon Beach, a self-described “KV comp” that looks to squeeze nine lengthy tracks under the guise of an EP. With a total runtime of just under an hour, it’s a collection of songs that would barely fit onto a 12-inch vinyl, never mind the ten or seven inches usually awarded to EPs. Fortunately, Vile has earned the right of self-indulgence.
According to Vile, the new songs that dominate the first half of Back to Moon Beach have “one foot in the not-too-distant past and the other with one tiny toe pointing towards the future. Together my feet are like a couple spanning time together”. Never feeling rushed or pressured into changing the sound he has spent 20 years honing, the compilation is dominated by all the characteristic Kurt-isms – his distinctive drawls, subdued guitars, and psychedelic influences.
The songs tread the same ground that so much of Vile’s solo work has walked a million times – guitar-driven soundscapes that evoke the same ease and wonder of aimlessly strolling the streets of an unexplored city. Two decades, nine albums, and 19 EPs in, it should have grown old by now, but perhaps it never will. The atmosphere of Back to Moon Beach is just as gorgeous as ever, just a little more refined.
Opener ‘Another Good Year for the Roses’ contains steady lyrics and even steadier instrumentals, while the title track ‘Back to Moon Beach’ represents Vile simultaneously at his most self-indulgent and self-aware. Over eight minutes of swirling strums and the occasional harmonica, between images of lunar explorations, he declares, “These recycled riffs ain’t going anywhere anytime soon, cause that’s where I live”.
For those of us willing to give in to those recycled riffs, Vile invites us to join him on his beach on the moon. Although Back to Moon Beach sounds warm and familiar, particularly to pre-existing fans, Vile does keep that one toe firmly pointed towards the future. Compiling album rejects and covers recorded across the last four years, the record is also a demonstration of his growth and influences.
It contains production from Cate Le Bon and playful odes to alt-rockers Wilco and folk legend Bob Dylan. An ode to Dylan’s 2009 version of the song, Vile provides his take on ‘Must Be Santa’, made all the more special by his daughters’ supporting vocals. It’s a track that seems sure to dominate alternative festive playlists this year. Vile rounds out the record with ‘Cool Water’, the only song to feature long-time collaborators the Violators and a fitting return to his comfort zone.
On his unapologetic new EP, Vile brings us back to the comforts of moon beach, back to his dependable drawls and subdued strums, but luckily, it’s a welcome return trip.
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