Music Review: Tom Freund, Two Moons

By Melissa Bratcher

There’s a gorgeous easiness to Two Moons, the latest album by singer/songwriter Tom Freund. It’s a sunny, low-key, nostalgic record that was funded by a PledgeMusic campaign. It’s the kind of record that you put on after a dreadful day, one that uplifts and feels like a perfect secret, full of fine musicianship and sagacious lyrics.

“Let Me Be Who I Wanna Be” is a mission statement as well as a universal sentiment: “I’m basically hooked on this life/it’s got a lot of problems/but it treats me real right/and you don’t have to agree with me/but let me fly my freak flag/let me shine my light on.” Freund has an endearing voice, and “Let Me Be Who I Wanna Be” has an easy groove and a nice swirling keyboard line. The crackerjack keyboard work on “Me And Bernice” (a “hey you kids, get off my lawn” sort of song, and one that is easy to identify with as I too, used to be a cool person, but now I’d just rather have a nap) is gritty and sunny at the same time. The low register vocals that mirror Freund’s lead sound like an homage to Squeeze, who Freund reportedly listened to whilst making Two Moons.

The bittersweet “Happy Days Lunch Box” name checks Arthur Fonzarelli. Acoustic and string driven, the sweetly sad song questions how we go from innocence to being jaded, and reminisces about being a latchkey kid. “Grooves Out Of My Heart” is another trip back in time, a sunbaked remembrance of getting stoned on the stoop and listening to records. The guitar on the fadeout is a tribute to Led Zeppelin, delightful and splendidly placed.

Tom Freund has a gift for getting down to the core of human experience in a few well-chosen words. “Same Old Shit Different Day” has delicious harmonies on the titular line, and mariachi horns, but what makes it a great song is the beauty of the lyrics. It’s a song about a man who embraces the craziness of his life (“I hope that I never say/Same old shit, different day”) as well as drawing little portraits of skaters and worn down women. “Weekend Guy” is another portrait, a swoony, drunken sway about a man who makes his party on a Wednesday night (and he makes very valid points—no one wants to stand in line to get into a club) and stays in on the weekends. It breaks into shimmering harmonies but is still delivered with a forlorn air.

The album closer, “Sugar Pie,” is a hushed, unbearably sweet love song. It made me cry. It’s not sappy, but it’s honest and breathtaking in its simplicity.

Tom Freund’s Two Moons is a stealth charmer. From the chorus of female voices imitating a theremin on “Next Time Around” to the captivating nostalgia of “Happy Days Lunch Box,” it’s a delightful, clever record that illuminates Freund’s crooked smile worldview. It’s wonderful.

Two Moons was released on June 17 by Surf Road.