RVNG Intl. begin their Reflections series – perhaps a follow-up to the old FRKWYS run – with a collaboration between two firm friends of the New York label. Guitarist / singer-songwriter Steve Gunn previously paired up with Mike Cooper on the aural oasis that was / is Cantos De Lisboa, way back in 2014. Pianist / composer David Moore sometimes goes by the moniker of Bing & Ruth, and released the terrific modern classical / ambient Tomorrow Was A Golden Age, that same year.  

The 8 new tunes on Let The Moon Be A Planet are suffused with sublime summery acoustic strum and pretty, peaceful, piano. Slow graceful keys that counter the fragile, frantic, folk guitar. The combination, a calming caress. Like a lover’s whisper. A balm for worry and stress. Track by track, the instruments take it in turns to assume the lead. Melody moving, evolving, through the improvisations. As the picked patterns become more intricate, the piano remains pensive. Rippling river-like. Then jumping, darting, like flying fish through sun-dappled waves. Rich reverb further soothing your head. The synergy somehow, without words, speaks of a simpler way of life. One spent working the land. Up with the sun. To bed with the moon. Hands calloused by chores, all attended to with great pride and care. A life of not much, but wanting for nothing. Perched on the porch at the end of the day, silently taking the air. A love weathered by years, but still strong in its twilight. 

The pieces, with cryptic titles, all paint these pictures, beautiful landscapes, as if captured with soft explosions of lens flare. Creating a music that seems rooted in history, but not tied to a time or a place. 

Steve Gunn & David Moore’s Let The Moon Be A Planet can be ordered directly from RVNG Intl.