Single Premiere: Terry’s Paradise – “I Told You the Full Moon Makes Sense”

If Terry’s Paradise were a physical space, it would stretch out into the breezy dusk, comfortably warm, lit by the lonely light of the moon. The new project is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Sam Barber, formerly of Big How, working closely with the indie veteran Karl Blau to write and record a pair of EPs set for release this year.

Terry’s Paradise’s first single, “I Told You the Full Moon Makes Sense”, takes inspiration from classic ’60s vocal groups for its chord progression and largely acapella backdrop, but Barber’s indie-inflected croon and earnest poetics pull the music towards our current moment, leaving it stretched between times, taking from each whatever feels most true.

“I told you the full moon makes sense/ When the clouds that cross it are laughing/ And our bikes lay soft on the gate/ Patiently awaiting their masters,” sings Barber, gesturing towards the moon—that age old locus of meaning—just before the bridge comes in with a sax line that spirals up and out of itself, seeming to reach something glowing above, just beyond reach.