Return to the Moon

Return to the Moon
Studio album by EL VY
Released	October 30, 2015
Recorded	Winter 2014–spring 2015
Genre	Indie rock indie pop post-punk revival
Length	41:38
Language	English
Label	4AD
Producer	Brent Knopf
Singles from Return to the Moon
"Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo)" Released: August 5, 2015 "I'm the Man to Be" Released: September 3, 2015 "Paul Is Alive" Released: October 7, 2015 "Need a Friend" Released: October 27, 2015 "Silent Ivy Hotel" Released: October 29, 2015

Return to the Moon is the debut studio album by American indie rock band EL VY, released on October 30, 2015 on 4AD. A collaboration between Matt Berninger (singer for The National) and Brent Knopf (Ramona Falls, Menomena), the two musicians had befriended one another on tour and exchanged sketches of music and lyrics for years, before getting together in the winter of 2014 to formally record an album.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	A[4]
The Guardian	[5]
The Irish Times	[6]
NME	[7]
Pitchfork	4.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]

Return to the Moon was met with a largely favorable reception from music critics. On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Josh Modell of The A.V. Club praised Return to the Moon as "one of the best albums of 2015" and proclaimed that "it stands shoulder to miserable, brilliant shoulder" next to Berninger's work with The National.[4] In his 4 out of 5 star review for NME, Rob Cooke drew comparisons to Knopf's former band, Menomena, writing that "fans of the brilliantly inventive art-rock band...will find lots to love in "Paul Is Alive"'s sparse, springy synths, the claustrophobic crunch of "Sad Case" and the brittle post-punk of "Happiness, Missouri"."[7] Critics were divided by the recontextualization of Berninger's songwriting and vocals with Knopf's keyboard-heavy arrangements - while Rolling Stone expressed that "Matt Berninger has never sounded more like himself",[9] Pitchfork labeled the project "muddled and confused, unsure of a clear direction to take."[8]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Drowned in Sound	Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of the Year 2015	87	[10]
Gigwise	Gigwise's Albums of the Year 2015	34	[11]
The Line of Best Fit	The Fifty Best Albums of 2015	—	[12]
Muzikalia [es]	The Best International Albums of 2015	21	[13]
The Skinny	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	46	[14]
Under the Radar	Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2015	10	[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf; additional lyrics written by Carin Besser.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo)"	4:13
2.	"I'm the Man to Be"	4:34
3.	"Paul Is Alive"	3:31
4.	"Need a Friend"	3:21
5.	"Silent Ivy Hotel"	4:11
6.	"No Time to Crank the Sun"	5:13
7.	"It's a Game"	4:05
8.	"Sleepin' Light (featuring Ural Thomas)"	3:43
9.	"Sad Case"	3:30
10.	"Happiness, MO"	2:02
11.	"Careless"	3:22

Personnel

EL VY

• Matt Berninger
• Brent Knopf
• Matt Sheehy - touring member
• Andy Stack - touring member

Additional musicians

• Drew Shoals - drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11)
• John O'Reilly, Jr. - drums (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8)
• Lauren Jacobson - violin
• Ural Thomas, Moorea Masa, Allison Hall, and Margaret Wehr - backing vocals

Production

• Brent Knopf - production, engineering
• Craig Silvey - mixing
• Greg Calbi - mastering
• Jeff Stuart Saltzman - drum engineering
• Tim Shrout - drum engineering and editing assistance
• Sean O'Brien - vocal engineering
• Eduardo de la Paz - mixing assistance
• Zach Stamler - editing assistance
• Matt Sheehy - editing assistance

Artwork

• Deirdre O'Callaghan - photography
• John Solimine - logo design
• Alison Fielding - packaging layout

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 6 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 106 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 53 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] 34 French Albums (SNEP)[20] 154 Irish Albums (IRMA)[21] 7 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22] 35 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[23] 24 Scottish Albums (OCC)[24] 39 UK Albums (OCC)[25] 43 US Billboard 200[26] 66 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27] 6 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] 7 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 8 US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[30] 12

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 166

References

1. "Return to the Moon by EL VY". 4AD. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
2. "Critic Reviews for Return to the Moon". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
3. Donelson, Marcy. "Return to the Moon – EL VY". AllMusic. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
4. Modell, Josh (October 30, 2015). "The National's Matt Berninger moves sideways and forward with EL VY". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
5. Gibsone, Harriet (October 29, 2015). "El Vy: Return to the Moon review – no-pressure side project from members of the National and Menomena". The Guardian. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
6. Keane, Brian (October 30, 2015). "EL VY: Return to the Moon - Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
7. Cooke, Rob (October 27, 2015). "EL VY – 'Return To The Moon' Review". NME. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
8. Gaerig, Andrew (November 2, 2015). "EL VY: Return to the Moon". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
9. Bernstein, Jonathan (October 29, 2015). "Return to the Moon: National frontman cuts loose, gets personal with a side project that feels like a solo showcase". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
10. "Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of the Year 2015". Drowned in Sound. December 17, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
11. "Gigwise's Albums of the Year". Gigwise. December 19, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
12. "The Fifty Best Albums of 2015". The Line of Best Fit. December 10, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
13. "Los mejores discos internacionales de 2015". Muzikalia [es]. December 17, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
14. "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". The Skinny. December 7, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
15. "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2015". Under the Radar. December 16, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
16. "Ultratop.be – EL VY – Return to the Moon" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
17. "Ultratop.be – EL VY – Return to the Moon" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
18. "El Vy Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – EL VY – Return to the Moon" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
20. "Lescharts.com – EL VY – Return to the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
21. "Irish-charts.com – Discography El Vy". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
22. "Charts.nz – EL VY – Return to the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
23. "Portuguesecharts.com – EL VY – Return to the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
24. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
26. "El Vy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
27. "El Vy Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
28. "El Vy Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
29. "El Vy Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
30. "El Vy Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
31. "Jaaroverzichten 2015". Ultratop. Retrieved October 31, 2021.