Moonlight Concessions

In 2020, the alternative rock band Throwing Muses released their tenth studio album Sun Racket. The band's frontwoman Kristin Hersh released her eleventh solo studio album Clear Pond Road in 2023. Hersh wrote the band's eleventh studio album, Moonlight Concessions, in the Southern United States along the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans, and Southern California. It was recorded at Stable Sound and produced by Hersh in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where the band is headquartered.{{Cite magazine |last=Pearis |first=Bill |date=2025-03-14 |title=Indie Basement (3/14): the week in classic indie, alternative & college rock |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/album-reviews-bambara-edwyn-collins-throwing-muses-of-montreal-etienne-de-crecy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250314164206/https://www.brooklynvegan.com/album-reviews-bambara-edwyn-collins-throwing-muses-of-montreal-etienne-de-crecy/ |archive-date=2025-03-14 |access-date=2025-03-16 |magazine=BrooklynVegan}}{{Cite magazine |last=Epstein-Gross |first=Casey |date=2025-02-05 |title=Throwing Muses: A homecoming like you've never heard before |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/throwing-muses/throwing-muses-a-homecoming-like-youve-never-heard-before |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250316172616/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/throwing-muses/throwing-muses-a-homecoming-like-youve-never-heard-before |archive-date=2025-03-16 |access-date=2025-03-16 |magazine=Paste}} In an interview with Paste, Hersh said that the album represents a return to the band's sound before the release of their debut album Throwing Muses (1986). The album has three singles: "Drugstore Drastic" (2024),{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Abby |date=2024-11-12 |title=Throwing Muses – 'Drugstore Drastic' |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2287178/throwing-muses-drugstore-drastic/music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250324020550/https://www.stereogum.com/2287178/throwing-muses-drugstore-drastic/music/ |archive-date=2025-03-24 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Stereogum}} "Summer of Love" (2025),{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Abby |date=2025-01-08 |title=Throwing Muses – 'Summer Of Love' |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2292295/throwing-muses-summer-of-love/music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250324020744/https://www.stereogum.com/2292295/throwing-muses-summer-of-love/music/ |archive-date=2025-03-24 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Stereogum}} and "Libretto" (2025).{{Cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=2025-02-05 |title=Throwing Muses – 'Libretto' |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2295777/throwing-muses-libretto/music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250324020745/https://www.stereogum.com/2295777/throwing-muses-libretto/music/ |archive-date=2025-03-24 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Stereogum}} It was released on March 14, 2025, by Fire.

{{redirect-distinguish-text|Moonlight Confessions|"Midnight Confessions", a single by The Grass Roots}}

Throwing Muses released a companion album, Moonlight Confessions, simultaneously with Moonlight Concessions. The companion album contains alternative versions of the songs and was released as a limited edition of 1,000 vinyl LPs through Rough Trade.

{{Music ratings

| ADM = 7.4/10{{Cite web |url=http://www.anydecentmusic.com/review/14242/_.aspx |title=Throwing Muses – Moonlight Concessions |website=AnyDecentMusic? |accessdate=2025-03-24 |date=n.d.}}

| MC = 78/100

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web |url=https://allmusic.com/album/mw0004456967 |title=Moonlight Concessions – Throwing Muses |language=en-US |website=AllMusic |accessdate=2025-03-16 |first=Heather |last=Phares |date=n.d.}}

| rev2 = Classic Rock

| rev2score = {{Rating|7|10}}{{Cite magazine |last=Beaumont |first=Mark |date=April 2025 |title=Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions |department=Reviews |magazine=Classic Rock |page=70 |issue=338 |issn=1464-7834}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite news |last=Chick |first=Stevie |date=2025-03-14 |title=Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions review – as ever, Kristin Hersh is astonishing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/14/throwing-muses-moonlight-concessions-review-kristin-hersh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250316014953/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/14/throwing-muses-moonlight-concessions-review-kristin-hersh |archive-date=2025-03-16 |access-date=2025-03-16 |work=The Guardian}}

| rev4 = MusicOMH

| rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Murphy |first=John |date=2025-03-14 |title=Throwing Muses – Moonlight Concessions |url=https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/throwing-muses-moonlight-concessions |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-16 |magazine=musicOMH}}

| rev5 = Record Collector

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Roberts |first=Chris |date=April 2025 |title=Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions |department=New Albums |magazine=Record Collector |page=105 |issue=569}}

| rev6 = Uncut

| rev6score = 8/10{{Cite magazine |last=Mueller |first=Andrew |date=March 2025 |title=Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions |magazine=Uncut |page=41 |issue=Take 336 |issn=1368-0722}}

}}

{{Metacritic album prose|Moonlight Concessions|positive|78|6}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/moonlight-concessions/throwing-muses |title=Moonlight Concessions by Throwing Muses Reviews and Tracks |website=Metacritic |accessdate=2025-03-16 |date=n.d.}} Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Heather Phraes writing that although she could "not always ... tell the difference" between the album and Kristin Hersh's 2023 solo studio album Clear Pond Road, the album "deliver[ed]" for Hersh's fans and "reaffirm[ed] just how high the bar is when it comes to Hersh's music". John Murphy in musicOMH also rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a "reliably compelling missive from a rare talent". In The Guardian, Stevie Chick gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, praising Hersh's "silvery snarl". She compared the album to Nirvana's 1994 MTV Unplugged in New York, writing that they both "conjure a dark, parched ambience" and have an "austerity and tension". Mark Beaumont rated the album 7 out of 10 for Classic Rock, stating that the album has "a mood as immersive as Raymond Carver". Andrew Mueller in Uncut wrote that the album showed the band "growing no less peculiar and wondrous for their familiarity". Chris Roberts in Record Collector rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and called it "ingenious".

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Kristin Hersh.

| title1 = Summer of Love

| length1 = 2:59

| title2 = South Coast

| length2 = 3:35

| title3 = Theremini

| length3 = 3:13

| title4 = Libretto

| length4 = 2:47

| title5 = Albatross

| length5 = 3:39

| title6 = Sally's Beauty

| length6 = 3:30

| title7 = Drugstore Drastic

| length7 = 3:27

| title8 = You're Clouds

| length8 = 3:31

| title9 = Moonlight Concessions

| length9 = 2:36

| total_length = 29:21

}}

• Kristin Hersh – lead vocals, guitar, production
• David Narcizo – drums
• Bernard Georges – bass

• Steve Rizzo – production, mixing
• Pete Harvey – cello

{{reflist}}

{{Throwing Muses}}

Category:2025 albums

Category:Fire Records (UK) albums

Category:Throwing Muses albums