Thurston Moore has reunited with his former bandmates in Chelsea Light Moving on a new song called “Sunday Stage”. The group recorded the track back in 2014, but it’s only just now surfacing to offer some light during these endless quarantined days.
When uploading the song to Bandcamp, Moore shared a note about how he’s dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. He wrote:
“It’s Sunday 29 March 2020 and we are all on the same page in our shelters if we are so lucky with food and drink if so blessed and with a loved one or two or three if the gods are really shining – maybe they are – i always feel they are, even in the worst of times – faith is key – religion is what you want for your own devotion to being here and now and today i love rock n roll ‘do you love rock n’ roll’ ‘i do – and i love you the resonant response of the Earth. We are fighting for each other hopefully with dignity despite the horror shows abounding in the hospices where brave soldiers save lives as much as they can – we salute you with loud love and raised guitars. it is time to pray to overthrow the weak governance of merchants of greed, insurrection blowing wild from the amplifiers, our hearts held in Sunday service.”
Musically, “Sunday Stage” is what you would expect from a Chelsea Light Moving song. Thurston Moore is holding down lead vocals and guitar as usual while John Moloney plays drums, Samara Lubelski performs bass, and Keith Wood adds guitar. With an ominous bass line and simple drumming leading the way, Moore and Wood trade off with distorted, noisy guitar parts. There’s a hint of Daydream Nation mixed in there, too. Stream it below to see for yourself.
Over the past two years alone, Thurston Moore released his newest solo album Spirit Counsel, shared the political 7-inch “Mx Liberty”, dropped an EP with his black metal supergroup Twilight, and covered New Order’s “Leave Me Alone”. Plus, Sonic Youth released archival recordings from 12 different live shows recently, too. There’s never been a better time to get into his extensive catalog, come to think of it.
Moore isn’t the only musician trying to help out during the coronavirus pandemic. Bon Iver are donating their merch sales to Wisconsin organizations fighting the outbreak, Rihanna gave $5 million to coronavirus relief efforts, Dolly Parton is reading children’s books on a weekly Youtube series, and Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are sending money to fans who lost their jobs in the COVID-19 shutdown. Plenty of artists are performing intimate sets from home, too, including Ben Gibbard, Margo Price, Neil Young, and Elton John. For an updated list of quarantine livestreams, click here.
Read up on all the tours, music festivals, album releases, and other productions impacted by the coronavirus pandemic with our updated list here.
Thurston Moore Reunites With Chelsea Light Moving Members on New Song “Sunday Stage”: Stream
Nina Corcoran
