''My New Moon'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician

Amos Lee Amos Lee (born Ryan Anthony Massaro, June 20, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk, rock, and soul. He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English ...

, released via

Dualtone Records Dualtone Records is an American record label specializing in folk, Americana, and indie rock. It was founded in 2001 by Scott Robinson and Dan Herrington. The company is run by Robinson and the label's president, Paul Roper. Albums are distribute ...

on August31, 2018. It received mixed reviews from critics but praise for the depth of Lee's emotional resonance. Many of the themes come from Lee's introspection as an artist and emotional struggles in the face of violence and his place in the world.

Critical reception

Album of the Year summed up critical consensus as a 68 out of 100, based on four reviews. A positive review came from the editorial staff of

AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

who awarded it four out of five stars and highlighted it as the "Best of 2018", with reviewer Matt Collar accenting the range of emotions in Lee's writing, calling this "ruminative if still uplifting album, characterized by emotive melodies and an earthy soulfulness". Amanda Wicks of

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

gave the album a seven out of 10, also praising the depth of feeling in the lyrics as well as Lee's ability to transition into

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

to keep from stagnating as an artist. For

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, Chris Ingalls finds a few moments that work on the album but assesses that "it doesn't take long for things to fall apart" and while he notes that Lee is a talented singer and songwriter, he uses cliches on this recording and it fees like a "lazy stopgap"; he scores it a six out of 10.

Sales

''My New Moon'' peaked at 49 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at fourth place on

Top Rock Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

Track listing

All songs are written by Amos Lee. #"No More Darkness, No More Light"– 2:56 #"Louisville"– 3:34 #"Little Light"– 3:32 #"All You Got Is a Song"– 3:52 #"I Get Weak"– 5:47 #"Crooked"– 2:42 #"Hang On, Hang On"– 4:10 #"Don't Give a Damn Anymore"– 2:59 #"Whiskey On Ice"– 3:31 #"Don't Fade Away"– 5:01 Deluxe edition bonus tracks #

"Little Bear"– 2:45 #"Summer All Over"– 3:16 #"Dying White Light"– 3:11 #" What's Going On" (written by

Al Cleveland Al Cleveland (born Alfred W. Cleveland; March 11, 1930 – August 14, 1996) was an American songwriter for the Motown label. Among his most popular co-compositions are 1967's "I Second That Emotion" and 1969's " Baby, Baby Don't Cry" performed b ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Renaldo Benson Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perf ...

)– 4:42 #"No More Darkness, No More Light" (acoustic)– 3:37 #"Don’t Give a Damn Anymore" (Blake Mills mix)– 2:54 #"Song for Tops"– 3:50

Personnel

– guitar, vocals *Ethan Gruska *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

*Blake Mills *Rob Moose– strings *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

– keyboards *

Patrick Warren Patrick Warren (born March 26, 1957) is an American musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Magnolia'', ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', ''Boogie Nights'' and ''Red State'', as well as the television series '' ...

– keyboards Technical personnel *

Tony Berg Anthony Rains "Tony" Berg (born October 21, 1954) is an American musician, record producer, and A&R representative, in which role he has been described as an "industry guru". Berg's music career began in the late 1970s as a session guitarist who ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arct ...

– mixing *

David Boucher David Boucher (born 17 March 1980) is a Belgian road cyclist, who currently rides for Belgian amateur team Acrog–Tormans. Personal life Midway through the 2013 season, Boucher – previously a French rider – became a naturalised B ...

– recording *Joseph Lorge– recording *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering

References

External links