Old Moon’s rapid-fire creative phase isn’t waning just yet. For two years now, Tom Weir’s musical project has churned out releases with the seasons, starting with his 2020 LP Nervous Feeling, and spanning myriad moody albums, EPs, and even compilation tapes. With the summer solstice creeping around the corner, it feels natural that Weir would drop a record that nudges us away from January’s In The Wasteland.
The Lyme, New Hampshire artist instead welcomes listeners to Cities of the Plain, his nine-track LP that dropped earlier this month (June 3). According to Weir, he’s been riding a tsunami of creative juices that not even the COVID-19 pandemic can cork.
“When it comes to writing music I go through extreme high and low cycles where if I’m feeling energized and excited to create, I feel the urge to create a lot,” he shares with Vanyaland. “It’s almost like a mania or something where things are just flowing out of me. I’ve had long periods before where I’ve been so down on music I can hardly even play guitar for years, so when things are coming and I’m feeling good about music, I want to grab it for all it’s worth and make as much as I possibly can while I’m on my current high. The past few years I’ve been riding a high with music where I’ve been able to write and record a lot. I’m sure that will change in the future so I want to wring out as much as I can right now.”
Like many artists, Weir cites studio time as an essential form of self-care, which is partially why his prolific release pace hasn’t lost steam in two years. “Can I forget all the ways I’m dying?” he sings on album opener “Soma,” funneling his leaden despair into another jangly post-punk gem. Weir later faces his mental well-being in explicit terms with final track “Smoke,” which he calls a meditation on “giving up what’s holding you back and trying be a better person.”
“I struggle with my mental health, and sometimes it feels like writing and recording is one of the only things that I can do to make myself feel good,” Weir concludes. “Usually when I’m making music, I don’t approach it with the thought that others will hear it — it’s usually made for me, and if I end up releasing it that’s a bonus. I think this is part of the reason my style jumps all over the place. Whatever I’m energized about at the current moment, that’s where I’m going to draw influence.”
Visit Cities of the Plain below.