Cleveland Alternative pop-rock darlings MESSMAKER have taken a break from their relentless show schedule and anthemic single dropping to drop a silky smooth, shimmering cover of King Harvest’s 1970s smash hit “Dancing In The Moonlight”. The song has been a recent staple of the duo’s live performances, so the natural next step would be to record their fresh take on the classic. “We like to approach covering songs by first imagining how another artist might have written it, and then covering THAT version, in our style,” explains MESSMAKER. “In this case, we wondered what it would be like if Dancing in the Moonlight had been written by Benny and the Jets-era Elton John. Turns out, it sounded pretty all right. It’s way too much fun to play live, and people at shows seemed to enjoy it at least as much as we did, so we thought we’d take it to the studio.”
Along with the track, MESSMAKER has just released a music video for the song, featuring Amanda Nyx of Fiercely Serene Studios. “The original idea for the video was that it would be entirely focused on Amanda’s performance, but she insisted that we get in there and mix it up too,” says MESSMAKER vocalist and guitarist Michael McFarland. “We ended up loving the contrast between a professional dancer looking like a badass, and the two of us looking like the goofballs we are. Right at the end of filming, the drone camera’s batteries ran out and it tried to auto-land on my head. There’s some great footage of the abject terror on my face, which probably belongs in an outtake reel.”
The song is the latest in a string of singles released by MESSMAKER, including the singles “Paying Attention” and “We Are The Architects”. “Dancing In The Moonlight” is available now and is streaming across all DSPs. Check out the video on YouTube below:
Aggressively catchy melodies pair with soul-filled lyrics in MESSMAKER’s refreshing take on indie rock. Lighting up stages as a power duo, musical architect Michael McFarland and versatile percussionist Freja McNeal bring the energy of an arena show to every performance. Garnering comparisons to acts such as Panic At the Disco and Bastille, McFarland’s songwriting is frank, expressive, and clever, and joined by McNeal the Cleveland, Ohio-based act elevates the material on stage with a seemingly inexhaustible energy.
Showing a maturity of style and sound that has developed through years of travel, relationships, heartbreaks, and reinventions, MESSMAKER’s music contains talent, passion, and lyrics that come from the heart. The result? A big, bright, and lovestruck slice of anthemic indie rock.
Catch up with MESSMAKER on their LinkTree.
