Guildford band The Lunar Keys are timing “Sinner” for the next new moon, releasing it on Monday, November 9th. The single is an alt rock anthem about morality, false identities, and distorted truths, and it asks whether our world rewards people for being good or simply for being a winner rather than a sinner. It comes from the band’s ongoing collaboration with Grammy-winning producer and mix engineer Brendan Dekora, whose credits the band lists as including NIN, Foo Fighters and Muse. The Lunar Keys perfected their lineup in February 2020 and say their earlier releases have drawn hundreds of reviews and more than 7,500 plays from over 500 radio stations, including BBC Introducing.
This is very 90s, I feel, probably because of its closeness to the grunge sound and how it’s produced. It’s the combination of psychedelic harmony and dreamy textures and the type of big distorted guitar that works as a gigantic wall of sound. The bass is doing a ton of the heavy lifting, though; it is such a huge sound. This is a heavy banger. The chorus has the potential to shake entire stadiums; it’s so powerful.
The band is known for tying its releases to a cause. When it put out “Silent Ricochet,” it pledged to plant a tree for every airplay and says more than 1,000 have been planted, and later releases have raised money for charities including Nordoff Robbins, Mind and Shelter. For “Sinner,” The Lunar Keys pledge £1 to Key4Life for each of the first 250 reviews or airplays the song receives, and the band says it will promote on its socials anyone who lets them know about a review or a play. It is a tradition that suits a song, asking what the world chooses to reward.
