Lo Moon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Dec. 5, 2018 | Suraya Mohamed -- They drove into the NPR garage crammed into an extended cargo van, 9 feet tall, instruments and luggage crammed all the way to the ceiling. They didn't use all of that gear, but even on this mainly acoustic, stripped-down set, Lo Moon radiated a signature sound - intimate and demonstrative, haunting yet uplifting, an old-fashioned rock beat under glimmering guitar and keys, overlaid with beautiful, textured vocals.
Lead singer and instrumentalist Matt Lowell says this journey began 5 1/2 years ago with "Loveless," the last song in this set. He created the demo version in a basement studio in New York, moved to Los Angeles and then linked up with Crisanta Baker (guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals) and multi-instrumentalist and principal guitarist Sam Stewart. They spent months in a backyard shed with gear and guitars everywhere. There they learned to feed off each other, sometimes jamming on two-chord drones for six hours straight without even saying a word. With the lights turned down, it was a comfortable space for the band to catch its artistic wind and create a celestial sound.
Here too at the Tiny Desk, Lo Moon is at ease, mesmerizing the audience with hooks loaded with what they call "bunches of atmospheres" and a gorgeous blend of soothing harmonies, pulsing rhythms and soaring melodies.
Set List
"This Is It"
"Real Love"
"Loveless"
MUSICIANS
Matt Lowell, Samuel Stewart, Crisanta Baker, Sterling Laws
CREDITS
Producers: Suraya Mohamed, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Alyse Young, Bronson Arcuri; Production Assistant: Salvatore Maicki; Photo: Christina Ascani/NPR
For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

[@alexstrahle4650]

One of the cleanest Tiny Desk's ever. They sound very well rehearsed and they sound like they're actually listening to each other and balancing volumes and blending perfectly.

[@TheSuperjunebug]

I got here because I went to a concert in Berlin and Lo Moon were the opening act. For the love of me I can't remember for whom they opened, but I remember them. Magnificent!

[@GlenESton]

Lo Moon opened for Air a few years ago. Though I love Air, Lo Moon left a lasting impression.

[@LoMoonMusic]

@@GlenESton hope to see you again soon. thanks for the love

[@lptomtom]

That comment about having watched all the NPR Tiny Desks videos in 5-hour loops is eminently relatable. Congrats to them for finally being featured!

[@lukeberrie3942]

A pet peeve of mine is that people are just suggesting their favourite artists to NPR for Tiny Desk instead of acknowledging the artists performing their hearts out on this very video. NPR won't listen to your comments. Lo Moon are tight. Get over it.

[@youare1485]

Hey man, first comment I think I've ever made here, you are so right about this. Although I did find out about Anderson Paak from folks in the comments so...

[@catherinehart5949]

Very tight. I love this song "This is It".

[@MYTRS]

Nice to hear something original and tight, I think Lo Moon maybe a new favourite band of mine.

[@techzzRP]

Original and Tight , good description ! They are awesome !

[@LoMoonMusic]

thank you! xx

[@babery9756]

if you played this without showing me the video, i would have thought it was the album recording

[@alexstrahle4650]

Honestly it sounds so good

[@17primemover]

I get the sense that Lo Moon is a superb live band.

[@josephd7267]

Can confirm! Superb a few years ago in SF!

[@LoMoonMusic]

Hope you come see us again soon!

[@peterdixon399]

They really are

[@willcollins6669]

incredible vocals... i've never in my life heard anyone come close to Talk Talk's Mark Hollis with the possible exception of Bryan Ferry. amazing! "Real Love" is a major highlight.

[@maraminjo2]

this is start of second album, I hope you listened LM1, with Sterling on the drums as a new band member, officially :-D He is here, allready, on the drums in this video, but they where trio for a first album. kzbin.info/www/bejne/emStmpaCZdJ6kLc

[@Reprodestruxion]

Will Collins check out La ley and Beto Cuevas (wrong era synth wave Talk Talk)

[@maraminjo2]

@@Reprodestruxion wrong era :-D kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqGqnJyQbKt6o8k

[@maraminjo2]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnS9n4udZduBqZI and so on...

[@Reprodestruxion]

maraminjo2 dum dum girls and it’s my life

[@ChobyMusic]

Found these guys on Hawaiian Airlines music by chance! Having travelled almost 13000 kilometres, with the horrible jet lag I had, I was just looking for something to help me fall asleep. Couldn’t sleep because of how amazing their music was!

[@JohnnyF71]

Love Lo Moon....understated brilliance

[@geoffreylotz3661]

Heard these guys for the first time yesterday....superb stuff....

[@user-cd9sz6pw2i]

My favorite band suggested back I'm 2018 on KZbin since then I've been hooked. Wish I could see them play live

[@LoMoonMusic]

we're touring a bunch this year, hope to see you soon. xx

[@sriracha2000]

Keyboard player is adding so much to this set both in vocals and on the keys, its awesome!

[@Raptuza]

So good 👍

[@jeromegreffon2211]

Umm Crisanta.... holy shit.... I always knew you would be out playing music! It’s too awesome to be watching tiny desk all of the time and then have you pop up front and center. Shaun and I love you so much.

[@patalaaar]

They're great live, saw them a couple of months ago when they were supporting London Grammar and been a fan since

[@aaronhunter5464]

wow wow, I saw these guy open for Chvrches in oct 18. I've been a huge fan since.

[@craig7810]

My KZbin algorithm has just brought me here. I thought I'd seen all of the tiny desk concerts. Well this has escaped me. I'd never ever heard of Lo Moon before but ill never forget them. This has just blew me away. Also the sound guy needs some props. Perfection.

[@Coolcucumber2]

I love this guy's singing...

[@murderhill1947]

Simple, understated and elegant. Well constructed songs. One of your best Tiny Desk performances. Thanks NPR and thanks Lo Moon.I resonated with Matt Lowell's description of watching Tiny Desk performances and then following bands on "feedback loops". Been there and done that. Hopefully they have some additional performances on KZbin.

[@SunshineMusic11]

Lo Moon....why did i just find out about them now? so beautiful

[@skrem23]

I love the fact that Lo Moon wear their musical influences on their sleeves, in the very best way. I saw in an interview their lead singer say he was into bands like The Blue Nile and Talk Talk (two of my all time favorite bands), and you certainly hear those influences in their music. "This Is It" has a Mark Hollis (Talk Talk) feel big time. Beautiful addition to the Tiny Desk series.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Stephen Koch also likes David Sylvian, trying to get Steve Jansen to produce

[@Reprodestruxion]

Stephen Koch and Sam’s a eurythmics child

[@kevincampbell5785]

Had never heard of this group. I watched the performance. I liked what I heard.

[@vincentjauneau4013]

0:00 "This is it" 5:40 "Real Love" 10:35 "Loveless"

[@mfdad1119]

It would be really nice if NPR could get these performances on Spotify and other streaming services (Spotify first please lol). I'm sure there's some red tape involved, but I'd really prefer listening to these on the go and adding them to playlists and things.

[@imgoingtotakeashower5960]

Rap Dad audio tree live does that

[@SahityaBeri]

You can get the tiny desk concerts as podcasts.

[@mfdad1119]

Sure, but I don't use Tidal so it'd be useless to me there :P

[@crockerzz8896]

You can use mp3juices.cc to download songs, from KZbin and Soundcloud, to keep on the go!

[@Reprodestruxion]

KZbin music

[@thomasstock2726]

Fantastic guys!

[@thegardenpear]

wow, Real Love just hit me. Hope these guys are touring near me soon!

[@marquotellurico9574]

"Loveless" instantly took me back to some Talk Talk soundscape

[@rickdeckard7549]

ditto...Mark Hollis' vocal doppleganger! wonder if they are an actual influence on these folks...first heard for me...

[@kainicol6928]

I love Lo Moon!

[@timanderson6941]

Big fan!

[@MedSou]

love this band 🔥🔥

[@Raptuza]

Yes!!!

[@anthonys4159]

Their recent album is sooooooo awesome.

[@jaeljade3609]

I recently found you guys and I'm in love with your sound

[@aces3535]

The Joy of NPR is finding new artists. Keep winning NPR✊🏾 These guys are DOPE AF👊🏾

[@georgetteyakman6882]

yes! I found you on a tiny desk loop from searching The Weather Station... hour 2 currently! Great sound - SOOO glad I found you - thanks NPR and many artists for this series!

[@abaranihei2608]

Brilliant and Beautiful

[@katjak900]

REAL LOVE TO THIS BAND💓

[@greatmindsthinkalike1378]

This nice and soulful. Never heard of this group, thanks NPR!

[@papabucks8582]

“Real Love” hit me. Real hard.

[@Raptuza]

Its wonderful...!

[@damianclarkson]

Yet again sound guys are off the scale! Sounds sublime!

[@raleydelk3541]

Love it!! Thanks for getting them on, NPR

[@darktrain1971]

fabulous band..love their sound

[@jonnaprog7]

the first song its incredible!!! Los amé totalmente

[@MrFoo-xf9gf]

Cannot believe, that these guys are from cali. Sounds swedish. Amazing californian music.

[@youngsadsatan]

A very talented band, they are beasts at what they do! I hope one day to see them playing shows all over the world, filling gigantic places and whatever... They deserve much more! 💕💕

[@LoMoonMusic]

thank you

[@PeterSpaeter96]

@@LoMoonMusic , @Gabriel: I'm not really sure about the 'gigantic places' bit, because the essence of Lo Moon seems to me their subtlety, their attention to details and may I say, their intimacy (even though 'This Is It' is a really powerful song, and so are a couple of others). But if they ever should happen to come near where I live (central Europe) then I will surely travel miles and miles to see them. Hopefully in a not-too-large venue, rather than in a crowded stadium.

[@LoMoonMusic]

@@PeterSpaeter96 we will be making our way to Europe and the UK in November!

[@PeterSpaeter96]

@@LoMoonMusic Excellent! Thank you very much indeed! You can definitely count on me coming to one of the continental shows.

[@PeterSpaeter96]

... and now I can happily say: I just managed to obtain two tickets for your Paris gig in november (it wasn't easy, though, and during the time the system took to process my request I was quite afraid that it might have already been sold out). I'm really looking forward to it!

[@smithc9698]

Love them

[@davidburleson2760]

That was amazing. Thank you.

[@bartmann4746]

Diggin' it!!! I love the rendition of Loveless in particular.

[@scottj1062]

Great stuff and she's beautiful.

[@daniellemoran238]

This band is fucking tight! I'm loving their sound, and looking forward to seeing them in April in SF!!!

[@lighteco9774]

So beautiful

[@lmj7638]

Yesssss- meg Myers Instagram introduced me to Lo moon and click click all the songs and of course I laughed when he brought up late night KZbin suggestions:) I’ve seen so many tiny desk videos and thank you KZbin for this one:). New music is SO rare to resonate with these days and I enjoyed the songs here too. Thank you:) 💝

[@tbaker2400]

Coming to Toronto soon....so looking forward to it Does have a Talk Talk memory for me

[@wdbaudio]

Can't wait to see you guys in May!

[@iceland1919]

I’m starting to like lo moon more and more, this is great, got the album from seeing this.

[@philanderwicks]

Wow! What a performance. 👏🏾👏🏾

[@luisenriqueperezroman3742]

AMAZING!

[@eltwenty7tuo995]

This version of real love .... Wow

[@DFojas]

Caught these guys at XFest in SD then a show at the troubadour! They always kill it! Can’t wait for the album!

[@user-fz5lm2cl8w]

Nice!!!Great music!!!

[@mikemerrill4073]

Sweet, I'm a new fan, beautiful songs.

[@Flippinger]

Talk Talk inspired. Very nice.

[@tq9978]

Needed this.

[@memorandom7484]

Great performance - it can't be easy stripping their really intricate song arrangements down for something like this. They're just so bloody _good_ though,can't wait to see them live in a few months, and for their album to come - though I do love the way they've dropped one song at a time over the last year and a bit. Just a great, great band.

[@Oris37]

Great sound guys, very reminiscent of Talk Talk...

[@willcollins6669]

100%! i was just thinking of Mark Hollis when they were performing "Real Love"... until now i've never heard his like...!

[@Reprodestruxion]

Esp stripped down

[@owenkjartanson7476]

The audio recording on this is amazing. Kudos to the Tiny Desk crew audio engineer.

[@ewalt1115]

The Hudson Valley loves Lo Moon

[@courtneyprice5941]

Thank you, NPR, for giving me another band to fall in love with!

[@lisamelroy2855]

Ditto - over the last 20 years or so I've found so much great new music thanks to NPR. I think many people associate NPR with talk radio, and that's part of it (I do love Fresh Aire!), but there are some terrific music programs on, too.

[@matheusafrancez]

So good

[@tubeDude48]

What a great 1st song.

[@brasoe6000]

Here on a loop

[@sigh4390]

Love it 💜

[@lobsterballz]

I love how the singer dances to the beat

[@Petertunes]

NIN piano vibes very cool

[@BRUCEBASS1961]

Choice work I enjoy it from Melbourne Australia

[@BRUCEBASS1961]

And yes I did find you guys on loop . How ironic .

[@eds6889]

Feedback loop... glad to end up here.

[@isras6702]

Heyyyy! Hey! Tiny desk! I love it!

[@jermainelong1843]

Nice big spacious chorus for a tiny concert👏👏

[@thomasstock2726]

Crisanta😍

[@b1merio]

Oh. Been hearing This Is It all the time on the radio the last month or so. Was wondering who does it; I finally find out. Good song. Good band.

[@SarahWells777]

Your freaking Magick!!

[@ilbellodeltubo573]

BRAVISSIMI! E LA BIONDA è VERAMENTE BONA

[@jbill7808]

That first joint tight!!

[@drsmit]

This performance is from the future!!! December 2018!

[@Spirtelol]

GET KNOWER TO DO A TINY DESK CONCERT

[@boobiemiles7735]

pls

[@renekitty2]

Okay yes all NPRs are great but you can really tell which ones are like incredible just by the name and the thumbnail. IDK. I ALWAYS get a hunch for the really good ones and this one is like an 11/10

[@deanmitchell9568]

i liked it

[@GITSVermeer]

As usual: the Tiny Desk performance is much better than the original tracks. Way to go.

[@KJuLZY]

the piano classic touch........real real love you try to fix it but its never enough... living that now in my journey....................thanks and welcome musical geniuses to the loop feedback of youtube..you owe it to the tube.........signed, music junkie

[@MetaPixel7]

Damn that was tight.

[@bplus2932]

this is why i fux with NPR

[@abaranihei2608]

Damn right!

[@undergroundradio87.9]

very nice.🤩🤩 wondering what sort of keyboards those were?

[@NSLiveSessions]

bonne ambiance bon groupe

[@mattmccarthymusic]

Holy crap...

[@shadow_finds_light]

Raw fucking talent. So. Gorgeous.

[@shyvixenposts]

my life is complete.

[@111ezioauditore]

:D

[@chandamann7740]

This is it

[@chandamann7740]

Shoutout to Bradley cooper on the keys

[@GwynabNudd]

This is it now!

[@anakein]

Nope, that was MJ...

[@rossijibbr]

I've been on a tiny desk feedback loop for what feels like 2 years with breaks

[@daddycubjudah]

Im picking up such a smashing pumpkins ava adors vibe!

[@GoopBlue]

Sounds like great music to listen to while you're depressed.