Different Moon is the brainchild of North Carolina songwriter/producer Jim Piper founded in 2015 as a tribute to his deceased friend and songwriting partner Mike Smith. Initially intended as a one-shot EP release, Piper opted to continue under the Different Moon banner and has since released three EPs, and seventeen singles and received a bevy of nominations from organizations as diverse as the American Songwriting Awards, the UK International Songwriting Contest, and SongwriterUniverse magazine, among others. Different Moon’s latest single “The Underdog” perpetuates the project’s tradition of rock/pop/alternative songwriting with its dramatic construction, first-class playing, and substantive lyrical content.
URL: https://www.differentmoon.com/
Piper’s inclinations for half-rhymes open his songwriting up a little more. It shows he has a keen ear for language, as well as music, though he’s careful to structure his words in such a way that they serve the arrangement rather than overshadowing it. The declarative questioning tone of the song’s first lines sets the table for everything that follows, and his precise rhymes, when they do happen, are never predictable.
The arrangement is far from predictable. The early verses take a clipped, almost-reggae style tempo punctuated by jagged distorted guitar. He meshes melody, rock, and pop with natural skill, and the pre-chorus highlights the song’s five-star vocal arrangement. We hit the anthemic high point of the song with its chorus. Different Moon, however, does not deliver some canned storm the ramparts vibe with the refrain, but instead an exhilarating recognition of the song’s subject that stirs the heart. It is a heroic moment rather than one employed for a cheap reaction.
The blending of assertive percussion, keyboards, guitar, and even piano continues for the song’s duration. Attentive and experienced listeners will flesh out the likely origins of the track in the recurring piano melodies weaving their way throughout the performance. It occupies a clear place in the mix, and the overall production of “The Underdog” is another of the track’s strengths. There is nothing about Different Moon’s presentation that screams indie, and each instrument, plus the vocals, has a clearly defined role to play in the mix.
Nor does it overreach. “The Underdog” runs less than four minutes long and eschews self-indulgent instrumental breaks. Piper, instead, steers the listener’s attention towards focusing on the song alone, and, as a result, listeners enjoy a much more satisfying experience than they would if the cut were a vehicle for pseudo-virtuosity. There is no question, however, that listeners are in the hands of a superior songwriting craftsman who never turns out workmanlike material. Tracks such as this are stamped with individualism of the highest order.
“The Underdog”, instead, sparkles with the light of genuine inspiration. Piper transmutes his influences so well that you can’t identify any specific reference point in his work. The single is familiar, yet fresh, as a result. It isn’t often that we encounter songwriters and/or musical acts who can reframe the familiar in a new guise, but Jim Piper’s Different Moon project has been pulling off that magic trick for nearly ten years now, and there’s no end in sight.
Garth Thomas