Toronto duo MOONRIIVR are back and they’ve brought some emotional baggage — the good kind. Their new single Force of Habit is an upbeat yet emotionally loaded indie rock track that pulls from 60s kraut rock textures, surf vibes, and a whole lot of feeling. It’s the second single from their forthcoming ‘MOONRIIVR Vol. 2,’ due out later this year, and it picks up right where November’s You Get Me By left off — proving these two are deep in a creative streak worth paying attention to.
At its heart, the track is about release. “About letting go of the past and searching for a new way forward,” as the band puts it. And you can feel that arc in real time. Force of Habit starts out reflective and restrained — almost tender — before gradually unspooling into beautiful, noisy chaos. It’s the kind of song that earns its explosion.
What makes it work is the tension between mood and movement. The instrumentation is bright and driving, pulling from vintage rock and surf influences, but the emotional undertow is heavy. That push-and-pull — between holding on and letting go — gives the song its personality. By the time it reaches its distortion-drenched finale, it feels both inevitable and cathartic. Controlled, but not afraid to unravel.
Who Is MOONRIIVR?
MOONRIIVR is the collaborative project of James Robertson and Gavin Gardiner, two longtime fixtures in the Toronto music scene whose shared love of vintage sound and analog recording runs through everything they make. Gardiner is a member of JUNO and Polaris-nominated indie-folk outfit The Wooden Sky and an engineer at All Day Coconut — someone who understands texture and space instinctively. Robertson, who’s worked alongside Dwayne Gretzky & Tom Wilson and was dubbed “an orchestra unto himself” by the Washington Post, brings a passion for era-specific instrumentation and melodic craft.
Their 2023 debut, ‘MOONRIIVR Vol. 1’, earned serious critical love and international attention — Rolling Stone likened it to Buddy Holly and Chris Isaak making a record with Damien Jurado, which honestly tells you everything you need to know. Since then, they’ve kept busy producing for artists like Peter Dreams (July Talk), Brandon Wolfe Scott (Yukon Blonde), and Reuben Bullock (Reuben & the Dark), all while pushing their own sound further.
Force of Habit is a compelling glimpse at where MOONRIIVR is headed — familiar but forward-moving, nostalgic but never stuck. Keep an eye on ‘MOONRIIVR Vol. 2’.
Follow MOONRIIVR: INSTAGRAM • SPOTIFY • APPLE MUSIC • BANDCAMP •WEBSITE • YOUTUBE
C'mon why don't you leave a comment here