By Connor Smith

Many Moons is the debut solo album from Real Estate’s singer and guitarist, Martin Courtney. Real Estate’s band members are known for their plethora of side projects, most notably Matt Modanile being the guitarist for Ducktails. However, Alex Bleeker also has had some success in his band Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. It was just a matter of time before Martin Courtney debuted a solo side project.

Many Moons sounds a bit more like a compilation of philosophical assertions rather than any album production he’s ever been involved in. Courtney released “Vestiges,” “Northern Highway” and “Airport Bar” before the full album on Oct. 30. There’s a lot of deep thinking in this new album. This became very evident upon my first listen of “Vestiges.” Martin Courtney discusses the past and how life is constantly changing. He asserts, “It’s hard to know if we can rely on anything.” If nothing ever stays the same, how can we rely on anything or anyone for that matter? What really struck me about “Vestiges” was one lyric, “The more things change the more things stay the same.” I guess it is true that the only constant is change.

However, the subject matter of this album doesn’t stagnate either. In “Airport Bar,” Courtney focuses less on the change that occurs and more on the effect it can have. He sits in an airport bar watching all the people come and go, but he’s just staying in one place.

This metaphor continues through the song as he talks about being in a dream-like state he refers to also in “Asleep,” saying, “I thought I had it made.” Unfortunately, Courtney did not have it made, and begs in the chorus, “Please don’t go forgetting about me, don’t go forgetting about me.” Many Moons is a fitting album title which he references explicitly, “Many moons for it to grow, phases they will come and they will go.” The changing of the times is as swift and polarizing as the changing phases of the moon. It is clear that Martin Courtney has seen the crescent and full moon along with everything in between.

This is a solid album both sonically and lyrically. Courtney clearly doesn’t lack experience, as his lyrics are very mature and retrospective. He possesses a new wisdom not seen in his previous ventures with Real Estate. The instrumentals have some influence from his work with Real Estate, but they are also very unique to this album. This is a very promising debut solo album from Martin Courtney, and I look forward to what he has in store for the future.