MOONRIIVR began as a pandemic project between Canadian music veterans Gavin Gardiner and James Robertson. With the addition of fellow Toronto musical mainstays Ben Whitely and Lyle Molzan, what emerged is a sound evoking a hazy vision of ‘50s rock and pop. Hints of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison appear alongside breezes of rockabilly, folk and doo-wop. MOONRIIVR, however, twist this to their own ends. Tunes that at first seem easily approachable begin to evoke a strange and inexplicable feeling of being a bit on edge. It’s an uncertainty that approaches - but never fully becomes - dread. It’s an engrossing pairing of isolation and warmth, crooning about love with an undertone of danger. It’s the type of music David Lynch would have had a field day with, a band easily imagined sharing a stage with Chris Isaak or Nick Cave. It’s music made for dark nights in the heat of late summer, or in the case of Block Heater, under the moonlit shadows of bare trees cast on snow.

- Derek McEwen