The Leeds band cement their status as one of the UK’s most creative and unique talents with the release of their new LP
Championed for the wildly creative and ambitious nature of their one-of-a-kind, groove-laden sound, Leeds 6-piece Flat Moon are a band who’s adventurous spirit and genre-defying sensibilities make for a listening experience that is unlike anything else in the modern music landscape, and their new album Cookin’ Up a Groove might just be their most exciting release to date.
The album opens with ‘Said Groove’, a short track that immediately sets the table for a release that is packed full of psychedelic vibes and abstract ideas, setting the tone with a gloriously inviting instrumental that feels packed full of life and swagger throughout. ‘A Moon’s Bouche’ swiftly follows and is packed full of infectious vocals, bouncy rhythms and a playful, flowing spirit that feels as warm and fun as it is eclectic, with its stop-start nature and intense tempo barely giving you a second to compose yourself.
Things slow down on ‘Private Rendevous’, a track that lives up to its title with more hushed tones and atmospheric leanings while still maintaining the sense of fun and unpredictability that characterises the release. The track subdues itself all the way down to a spoken passage before being masterfully intersected by the unpredictable ‘B-Funk (Get Out The Way)’, a track that leans on hip-hop and jazz in a way that evokes the spirit of a more ambitious Mighty Boosh number in the best possible way.
The frenetic nature of ‘Ndujathinkhesaurus’ follows a brief siren-laden interlude, and makes for some of the most confounding and dynamic passages on the album. There is this incessant, wandering nature to the album and the way that it flows and does unexpected things that keeps every moment feeling exciting and packed full of intrigue, and this track feels like that personified, with its creative twists and turns making for a riot of a time throughout.
The funk-laden ‘Soupe Du Jour’ interlude comes before ‘Schleep’, another exercise in pushing the confines of their sound with wonderfully jazzy and eclectic instrumentation that threatens to leave you behind if you don’t have your wits about you. The track explores themes like insomnia and the chaos that it causes the person suffering with it, and the sound does a great job of echoing that stylistically.
The more moody psyhedelic haze of ‘Fogz & Snek’ follows, building in a way that feels rewarding into something that feels grand and exciting, embodying a Latin flavour that threatens to burst through the seams and invoke an upbeat, danceable party atmosphere among the more considered moments. The nature of their sound allows them to experiment in such fun and memorable ways, and them having such a distinctive core to their style means that nothing ever feels out of place or forced.
‘Too Drunk to Funk’ is a track that goes full throttle into their most danceable and over-the-top tendencies in break-neck fashion, with a full-throated vocal performance and their typically impressive production and instrumentation making for another memorable track that embraces its weirdness and still manages to feel as approachable as anything you’re likely to hear soon.
The singalong nature of ‘Dizzy’ makes for some really compelling moments, slowing things down in a way that feels smooth and thoughtful, especially when compared to some of the album’s more over-stimulating and high-octane moments, and this really allows the instrumentation and guitars especially to breathe in captivating fashion.
An album like this never felt likely to go out quietly, and the 10 minute odyssey that is ‘On a Close’ feels like a fitting way to end an album that has been absolutely stacked full of ideas and creativity. Rather than going full force into the most rambunctious reaches of their sound though, the band instead go for another atmospheric cut that feels mysterious throughout, subtly shifting through textures as it progresses. It is an unexpected and daring turn, but that seems to be what Flat Moon are all about, and it offers a chance to reflect on what has been a wild journey across these tracks.
The band named the album such as they approached each track as if creating a recipe, with each containing different flavours and ideas for how they came together. This is readily apparent throughout a release that contains some of the most out there and memorable sounds of the whole of 2025, and the way that they can cram so many different styles and unconventional moments into the album and to have created something that even feels half as cohesive and exciting as this does is truly admirable and worthy of the highest of praise.
