The Moon Band

"Relations" is the name of The Moonband's new album (June 2025). The now sixth full-length player has gained audibly on pop and dance elements. Synthesizer and ukulele as a soundtrack to couples therapy. The Moonband stands between nightlife and privacy. They are not very squeamish, especially with themselves.

As people and relationships change, so has the sound of the moonband, the group and the people behind the music always changed. For this album, the band has not made it easy for themselves with the relationship with their musical self: the arrangement process was completely broken up – it was discussed, wrestled, discarded and revised. Deep into the dark soul of the lyrics, the group has penetrated. To the core, the band was honest with themselves and their personal themes. On "Relations" at the end, every word, every tone, every beat sits where it should sit.

What is the therapist in psychology is the producer in music. Markus Harbauer (Exclusive, Mola) took on this task, gave the band a juicy groove cure and introduced some innovations in the recording process and, as good therapists do, at the same time worked out the strengths of this relationship. Some acoustic instruments had to clear their place in favor of surfaces and synthesizers. Nevertheless, mandolin and ukulele remain and polyphonic chants remain the musical core of this production, with all three singers giving the front woman, or even man.

And for those who just can’t believe it: Yes, this album is, despite all the disco passages, recorded live, in an old wooden house, far out in the forest.

The cover design of "Relations" is also an innovation: For the first time, the members of The Moonband show themselves – here too, they are not spared with honesty – with wrinkles and grey strands, staged by illustrator and game designer Christian Reiner. On the front cover are Elena Rakete and Katrin Bobek. The double portrait shows two generations of female musicians who – if we are honest – are the moral soul of this band.

Audible and visible: The Moonband has matured (though far from grown up). So one listens to "Relations" after all, with which interpersonal topics thirty to fifty-year-olds deal in different situations of life. Truth or duty – at least in terms of content, "Relations" is nothing for the first kiss. Rather an album for the next conflict that can give the strength to be honest with yourself and your friends, and still prefer to dance than brood.

"Relations" appeared on the in-house label Intertune Records, available in distribution at Galileo Music.