Adam Snyder - Two Moons Reviewed

It has taken some time to get a single released from Snyder's debut album 'Across The Pond' which hit the shops last September. However, he is not a man in a hurry. Snyder has not had the smoothest journey to the Holy Grail of a record deal as he has been playing music in various dives on both sides of the Atlantic since the 1980's.

Before recording his album, Snyder could already lay claim to a footnote in rock history as the keyboard player on Mercury Rev's 1998 break through masterpiece 'Deserters Songs'. After touring that album, he left the band to work on his own songs and in the process has been involved with two extraordinary collaborations that have resulted in this single.

Firstly, 'Two Moons' was co-written with electro legend Arthur Baker. Whatever Baker contributed it certainly was not an electro influence, because the result is a sweet as candy, romantic country ballad. The song evokes early acoustic Neil Young or if I am feeling less charitable it perhaps betrays more of a James Taylor influence.

The album version is a bonus track on this release because the single version is a Marius De Vries remix. De Vries has worked as a producer for a diverse selection of artists (Madonna, Massive Attack and U2) and he also co-wrote the music to the movie Moulin Rouge. On 'Two Moons' he has added a lush string arrangement and crucially he has used B J Cole to coat the song with some exquisite pedal steel.

Gavin Eves