• Tweet

Photo Credit: Jono Bernstein

Moon King brain child Daniel Woodhead has been busy in the studio putting the finishing touches on his brand new EP to be released this Spring. Obsession II, the second in the Obsession series, will be out April 20th on One Big Silence, the Toronto label formed and run by Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up.

Joined again by long time collaborator and friend Maddy Wilde, Obsession II shows the band pushing their sound and delving into intensely distorted guitar riffs in a nod to bands like Jane’s Addiction or Jesus and Mary Chain but with a distinctly fun touch.

Pitchfork has today premiered “Appel,” the first track of Obsession II, writing, “Daniel Benjamin’s production rewards high-volume listening without sacrificing its layer of distancing fuzz, while vocalist Maddy Wolfe spends much of the song tucked behind that layer until its final minute, when she blasts through the murk for a period of relative clarity. It’s a surprising and rewarding conclusion to this promising effort.”

Moon King are about to hit the road for a tour that will see them sharing stages with fellow indie must-sees HAERTS, Empress Of, BRAIDS and more, culminating with an extensive tour this Spring with Born Ruffians. They will also be announcing their full SXSW schedule shortly, stay tuned, the best is yet to come..

North American Tour Dates
03.06.13 – Shea Stadium – Brooklyn, NY *
03.07.13 – Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC @ !
03.08.13 – Savannah Stopover Festival – Savannah, GA @^
03.09.13 – 529 – Atlanta, GA #%
03.10.13 – Cats Purring Dude Ranch – Oxford, MS $%
03.11.13 – Where House – Fort Worth, TX %
03.12.13 – 3.16.13 – SXSW – Austin, TX
04.11.13 – La Sala Rosa – Montreal, PQ **
04.12.13 – Signal Kitchen – Burlington, VT* *
04.14.13 – Firehouse 13 – Providence, RI **
04.15.13 – Great Scott – Allston, MA **
04.16.13 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY* *
04.18.13 – Maxwell’s – Hoboken, NJ **
04.20.13 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA**
04.21.13 – R&R Hotel – Washington, D.C. **
04.23.13 – Motorco – Chapel Hill, NC **
04.25.13 – Bottletree – Birmingham, AL **
04.26.13 – Spanish Moon – Baton Rouge, LA **
04.27.13 – Fatty Arbuckles – Shreveport, LA **
04.29.13 – Fitzgerald’s – Houston, TX **
04.30.13 – Red 7 – Austin, TX **
05.02.13 – Lowbrow – El Paso, TX **
05.03.13 – Sail Inn – Phoenix, AZ **
05.02.13 – Lowbrow – El Paso, TX **
05.04.13 – Casbah – San Diego, CA **
05.02.13 – Lowbrow – El Paso, TX **
05.06.13 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA **
05.08.13 – Slims – San Francisco, CA **
05.10.13 – Star Theater – Portland, OR **
05.11.13 – Barboza – Seattle, WA **
05.12.13 – Crux – Boise, ID **
05.13.13 – In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT **
05.14.13 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO **
05.16.13 – Waiting Room – Omaha, NE **
05.17.13 – The Mill – Iowa City, IA **
05.18.13 – UW Madison – Madison, WI **
05.19.13 – 7th St. Entry – Minneapolis, MN**
05.21.13 – Mad Planet – Milwaukee, WI **
05.22.13 – Magic Stick – Detroit, MI **

*with Ava Luna, The Can’t Tells
@ with BRAIDS
! with Snowmine
^ with HAERTS
# with Moodrings
% with Empress Of
$ with Ducktails, Chris Cohen, Idiot Glee, Caveman
** with Born Ruffians

Obsessions II Tracklisting /

01. Violence
02. Dreamtrap
03. Icarus
04. Appel
05. Almost Blue
06. Glass

Toronto native Daniel Benjamin and collaborator/co-conspirator Maddy Wilde have been making music together for most of their lives; as Moon King, the two singers weave dreamlike harmonies over buzz-saw guitars and electronic percussion, their live performances capturing a raw-nerve intensity that verges on ecstatic. Many of Daniel’s songs appeal to our darker subconscious desires, reveling in the embrace of fear and ego as a means of escape.

Moon King have toured with Fucked Up & Twin Sister since the release of their debut 12″ EP this past summer, and are planning to release a follow-up EP Obsession II in May 2013 on One Big Silence, the label run by Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up. Daniel has also been touring as a member of his brother Airick’s project Doldrums.

Also, if you are interested in recycling old CDs that you have lying around, then visit musicmagpie.com to make some extra cash from them and start updating your CD collection.