To grasp immediately the emotional experience of Untitled, the fourth LP from German janglers Hanemoon, look no further than the album’s cover art. This grainy, desaturated photo captures in an instant the same warm nostalgia conveyed within the record’s 39-minute runtime. The faded backdrop, at once soft and haunting, might be any post-industrial, pre-revival town. Across this sun-washed landscape wanders the solitary ghost of a man, given direction by the double-exposed overlay of two moments in time, and made translucent by the same process. No object in frame is loud enough to serve as an obvious focal point. Instead, the effect of the whole lands softly, vivid in its impact but blurred at the edges like a memory. Untitled evokes these same dreamy states of mind in a polished tapestry of guitar-driven bedroom pop, 90s slacker indie, and 60s psych-pop.
Hanemoon is the project of Berlin-based Hans Forster (of Seaside Stars, Man Behind Tree fame). Untitled additionally features a large supporting cast: Seb Thieme on drums and bass, Gregor Hüttner on drums, Andi Schuwirth on acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies, Pat Carter on pedal steel, and Desmond Garcia on guitar and lap steel. The album was recorded at Big Block Rock Studios in Berlin and arrives via South Africa’s Subjangle label.
Where 2024’s Rain or Shine relied on more straightforward, crunchy chording, Untitled instead pivots into cleaner polyphonies. It is a lush, time-traveling collage of guitar work that mirrors the restrained, gentle portraiture of early Acetone, the expansive shimmer of Jeff Buckley, and at times even the riffy playfulness of the Grateful Dead. These myriad influences heighten the feeling of a trip through time, while the production glues it all together into a cohesive work. Forster’s vocal delivery carries the album’s emotional weight, a warm and intimate voice that wants to break its own restraints in the vein of Elliott Smith. The enveloping guitars swaddle each phrase over stable percussion and bass lines that occasionally surprise when they come out to play.
The emotional peaks of Untitled keep the album from meandering and stand out most on repeat listening. “Scared” is a wistful, introspective piece that lands with the quiet heft of Plans-era Death Cab. “Listening Later On” evokes the dreamy soundscapes of Mazzy Star in a melancholic waltz, while “I Think You’re Thinking” combines bright harmonies and swooning lap steel to push the album into 60s-inflected upbeat glee.
Untitled is a delightful journey that brings to mind memories of sweet summer evenings and a pre-internet youth: Easygoing, but never unserious. Listen to Untitled below:
Written by John Bagatta
