Jon Mackenzie, a familiar name on the Edinburgh music scene is going a wander with his debut EP.
With delicately finger picked guitar and searching steel guitar riffs you would be forgiven for thinking Holidays on the Moon was recorded on a veranda down by the bayou, rather than a studio on the outskirts of Edinburgh, none more so than on opening track ‘Way Out West’.
This details the beginning of Mackenzie’s trek as he saddles up his horse and heads out on his journey of discovery encountering old wise men and ‘west town whores’.
Mackenzie’s haunting vocals and rhythmic guitar gives the listener the feeling that they are accompanying him on the beginning of a grand journey.
Title track, ‘Holidays on the Moon’ is a soulful love ballad that will make you want to jump on a plane with your partner and head for some remote destination (possibly not all the way to the moon but you get the idea!)
As the opening riff of ‘Lonesome Road’ ambles along, you can almost hear a coyote howling in the distance as Mackenzie conjures up the image of trekking through the country with nothing but a bindle and the stars for company; this track is excellently written and is a welcome reminder that everything is going to be alright.
‘Rent Day in The Wilderness’ is a much more sombre affair, there is almost a sense that Mackenzie is in repentant mood as he prepares to meet his maker; saturnine electric guitar over the top of reflective lyrics add a different dimension to this song.
‘Sacred Ancient Mineral Blues’ rounds off the trip with Mackenzie taking the guitar for a walk and singing about curing his ailments with sacred minerals, the lyrics and solo acoustic guitar reminiscent of the all to familiar feeling of coming home from a holiday in need of some mineral cure.
In summation, Holidays on the Moon is an excellent debut, the production is flawless and Mackenzie’s vocal and guitar skills were never in doubt; he might have been on a cosmic holiday, but he has certainly been working hard.
Words: Steven Aitken
