Canadian duo Jaime April and Jason Moon, operating under the banner of APRIL MOON, bring an early 70s, guitar driven, country groove to the table with their newest single ‘Second Guess’, recorded in their adopted hometown of Liverpool, UK. The song was released alongside a headline show in Studio 3 at the Liverpool Arts Bar, Hope St and a music video on the pair’s YouTube channel.
The song is a bit of a darker, more introspective song compared to April Moon’s typically whimsical, quirky tunes. While still offering the duo’s tight vocal harmonies the track has a similar feel to the Rolling Stones ‘Tumbling Dice’ or ‘Beast Of Burden’. Wanting to create a ‘guitar’ song, Jason was let loose in the studio, ending up with a lot of layered lead electric parts that lend themselves to the slightly ominous uncertainty in the lyrics.
As songwriter and lead guitarist Jason Moon explains, “The song is about selfishness really. About trying to find a better path even with the impending reckoning looming over your shoulder.”
This is the fourth single from APRIL MOON since their full-length album ‘The Other One Was You’ was released in 2022 in which they first started to explore a more Americana / rootsy sound than their previous rock and folk offerings. With a goal of creating songs that capture their live feel, the duo have focused on really evolving and fine-tuning their recent new music onstage at various festivals and gigs before stepping foot in the studio.
“Playing live can really change the whole feel of a song for us” says Jaime April “The tempo often speeds up (against our will) but there are always little bits that don’t work quite how you envisioned them in the rehearsal room or unexpected bits that people really love right off the bat.”
Hailing from the vast prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, Jaime April and Jason Moon fell in love with the UK while on tour with a previous band, and when both the band and their marriages fell apart, they decided to explore the UK’s vibrant music scene on a more permanent basis. With a shared enjoyment of clever, quirky lyrics and big harmonies, Jaime and Jason quickly found that they brought out the best in each other’s songwriting. APRIL MOON like to call their genre Canadiana – think Americana, but with a big helping of northern charm that oozes through their style of storytelling and lyrics, creating a vivid world around these two that make you feel right at home.
With influences ranging from classic artists like the Carter Family and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot through to Gram Parsons, Dwight Yoakam, Uncle Tupelo and Steve Earle, both Jaime and Jason have been inspired by the rise of the new alt-country, non mainstream artists and sounds coming from musicians such as Sierra Ferrell, Tyler Childers, Nick Shoulders and Jake Vaadeland (who hails from their shared prairie province of Saskatchewan). ‘Second Guess’ fits perfectly into the resurging wave of alt-country music and was released the day after APRIL MOON’s headline show at the Arts Bar in Liverpool where they were joined by fiddle player Becky Gilman in a full house.
Jaime and Jason have been awarded a Record & Release funding grant from Help Musicians in support of a series of singles to be released over the course of this year.