Essex quartet Arcane Moon have officially unleashed their debut full-length, ‘The Hour Glass,’ an ambitious 12-track record that lands with the weight of a band well past their first outing.

The ghosts in the machine are obvious, but they haven’t just hung posters on the wall. You hear the watery, melancholic headspace of R.E.M. colliding head-on with the metronomic, almost irritatingly tight precision of The Police. Crucially, they cut this thing live at Three Circles Studio. Y

Tracks like ‘Utopian’ and the single ‘Sunday Gravy’ walk that tightrope: all kinetic, nervous energy parked right next to some serious, chin-stroking contemplation. Even at its grandest, … evoking textures reminiscent of prog…

Speaking about the album, the band explain: “The album was recorded in May 2025 at the Three Circles Recording Studio, Wimbish, Essex with co-producer Adrian Hare. One of the main reasons for choosing Three Circles is it allowed the band to play all together, authentically, live as a band, rather than building it up one instrument at a time.
The song writing process usually starts with a guitar riff or a chord sequence giving an initial theme for the song. We then jam different instrumental options and then put a vocal melody over the top. Once in place, Josh finalises the lyrics to the theme of the song. Finally, the artwork hopefully captures the spirit or essence of the song”

They’ve done the homework. With strong foundational work already laid by previous EPs and successful UK live shows, ‘The Hour Glass’ feels like the cohesive, thought-provoking statement Arcane Moon was building toward.

Headline photo: (Credit: James Lloyd)

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Arcane Moon