Soup Review Beneath The Big White Moon
What do we make of ‘anti-folk’ as a genre? If folk’s musical themes are cryptozoology, John Constable landscapes and druids bustin’ moves, anti-folk veers towards tales of society’s decay and the odd rhyme about ladles.
As genre discussions seldom spin a good yarn, let’s focus on Soup Review’s second album, Beneath The Big White Moon.
Soup Review's own take on anti-folk replaces cryptozoology with British pop culture minutiae (‘Stars In Their Eyes On SSRIs’!), and Constable’s green landscapes are now portraits of grim motorway hotels (‘Ballache Hotel’), vacuuming included.
If I were to pinpoint a theme for Beneath The Big White Moon, it would be mental health. And how can it not be? This bust of a year has been taxing on all of us, on our families and on our economies. Soup Review take a snapshot of a way of life now gone, replaced by uncertainty.
Still, there’s that British wit that comes with a peppy quip, a self-deflating jab, cutting down like a crisp autumnal morning. Will music save us all? Maybe, maybe not. But we all need a respite and art certainly likes to offer it.
“Al mal tiempo, buena cara” is an old saying often used in Mexico. A mixture of optimism and gallows humour that hopes to alleviate a worried mind. Perhaps Soup Review’s brand of anti-folk crossed the ocean on a bender and seasoned their wit, losing poor Gazza on their trip.
