Crofts 'really excited' as Northampton band The Moons prepare to release new album Pocket Melodies

And later this month, that dream becomes a reality with the release of Pocket Melodies, the fourth studio album from Northampton band The Moons.

The LP, which was recorded in one day at the world famous Studio Two at Abbey Road, the room where The Beatles made their magic, will hit the shelves on October 23.

But as you can see from the above quote from front man and songwriter Andy Crofts, there was a time when it looked as though it wouldn't see the light of day.

Thankfully, it was only a fleeting moment of negativity from Crofts, but an understandable one after what has been a very difficult year for the arts world and musicians in particular.

The live music scene has been closed down since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK in mid-March, and Crofts would normally have spent the past few months touring the UK and beyond as the bass player in Paul Weller's live band.

Instead he has been stuck at home along with the majority of the rest of the country, but one plus side to that inactivity has been that Crofts has had more time to focus on The Moons, the band he formed back in 2008, and other projects too.

In fact, he has been a very busy man!

As well as finishing off Pocket Melodies, Crofts has also published a very well received photographic book on Weller, simply entitled Paul, released a CD of cover versions performed on his weekly Boogaloo Radio show, put out two Moons singles and a solo effort called Forevermore.

But he admits he can't wait for the world to hear The Moons' latest offering, and if the recent singles The Riding Man and Today are anything to go by, we are all in for a treat.

Reflecting on how being in the midst of a pandemic has hit the music world, Crofts admitted: "It's been a nightmare, but it was half the reason why I got the album together and the singles.

"And because we can't tour, in a weird way, I have smashed 2020 in the face myself.

"I have done a Boogaloo Radio CD, I have done a solo single, we have done a couple of Moons singles and the album, and I have also put two singles out for (Southampton band) Teenage Waitress with an album to come.

"And I have also played on Paul Weller's No.1 album On Sunset, so in some ways it has made me think 'I am not going to let it crush me'.

"But in another way it is as boring as hell, and things are so uncertain and worrying."

That being the case, the release of Pocket Melodies comes at just the right time to raise his and the band's fans' spirits and Crofts said: "I am really excited about it.

"This is our fourth album, and I have been through a lot of ups and downs in my head to get to this point.

"I nearly sacked it all off, and I nearly didn't want to do it any more, not music, just The Moons and that, but we recorded the album in Abbey Road and I thought 'am I mad? This is like our dream to have done this'.

"Anyway, I got through those mental issues and I just thought 'you know, I have all these songs from Abbey Road, so let's do it, let's get it together'.

"So I have got it together, and I think it is my favourite Moons album now."

Crofts and fellow Moons Ben Gordelier (drums), Chris Watson (guitar) and Ben Curtis (bass) recorded the LP at Abbey Road in the autumn of 2019, and the front man added: "It is very colourful and melodic.

"It is a pop album, although when I say pop I don't mean in a Taylor Swift sense, but pop in the sense of The Kinks and The Beatles kind of pop, that band pop.

"All the songs are very sweet, and I thought I would use the strengths I am best at and write good, melodic songs.

"I didn't want to try and force anything too obscure, and it has worked out great."

Although a new album, Pocket Melodies has in fact been many years in the making, with Crofts explaining how the tracks have been written and ready to go for a while.

"The songs were laying around for some time, and my little saying that I always come out with is 'that I have songs in my pocket'," said Crofts.

"So it is literally that, I had these songs in my pocket and then one day I turned them all into an album, so that's why it's called Pocket Melodies."

Crofts now lives in Worthing, but he was brought up in Northampton and one of the songs on the LP references his home town, and in particular the area where he grew up, Kingsthorpe.

"There is a song called The Old Brigade and as some people might know there used to be a shop in Kingsthorpe called that, down the front, which was a military shop," said Crofts.

"It was there throughout my childhood, like most people who are probably reading this, and don't get me wrong it wasn't like 'wow, I loved that shop every day I walked past it'.

"But I was always intrigued by it, purely for the reason that it stood out in my head to make a song.

"It always seemed like it was shut, but it had all these old war medals and memorabilia like swords and guns, and I was quite fascinated by it, even though I had no idea about it.

"Anyway, fast forward years and obviously the shop has gone, but it imprinted in my brain.

"So I wrote this song called The Old Brigade where I am reminiscing where I grew up on Kingsland Avenue in Kingsthorpe, on the corner of Nursery Lane, and it's basically about a gang of kids just playing in the street.

"That is what you do, but instead of calling it a gang I called it the old brigade, which kind of made sense!

"So it is a song with a few Kingsthorpe and Northampton references, it was never intended to be like Penny Lane or anything like that, it just felt right and I am happy to have a little Northampton song in there anyway."

The normal thing that would happen when a band release an album is that they will hit the road and play live off the back of it, but that obviously can't happen in these times.

It means artists and musicians are having to find other ways to promote songs and releases, and social media has certainly played a major part through the various stages of lockdown.

Crofts has announced he will be playing a live acoustic set from his home and broadcasting it on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lunarcrofts) to launch the album on October 23, with full details to be released nearer the time.

The LP, the Moons' first release since Mindwaves back in 2014, is being put out on Crofts' own label, Colorama Records, and is issued on a deluxe CD, which includes five bonus tracks, as well as on purple vinyl, which is house in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 16-page lyric book.

To pre-order the LP, go to themoons.co.uk