Arthur Moon Shines at Bushwick’s Sultan Room

In The Moment at The Sultan Room / photo by Kyra Kverno

On December 3, 2019, Brooklyn Roads visited Bushwick’s newest music venues, The Sultan Room, to catch one of the most intriguing artists our borough has produced in a long time. Arthur Moon, the band persona of singer/composer/musician Lora-Faye Åshuvud, plays a brand of outside-the-box, avant-pop electronica she calls “incorrect music.”

Arthur Moon / photo by Kyra Kverno

A crowd of about 150 or more responded enthusiastically to a 40-minute set of songs — dominated by multiple keyboards and percussion — from Arthur Moon’s self-titled debut album.

Standout numbers included “Homonormo” and “Too High,” which both appear to deal with the artist’s identity – gender and otherwise. The former features the refrain “I think I want to settle down, but weirder,” while in the latter Åshuvud intones, “Can I change my body / can I change my mind / can I change.”

Arthur Moon Reflects / photo by Kyra Kverno

“The Habit” could be interpreted as a sort of coming-of-age song while “Ships” is an ethereal tune about a fragile relationship, presumably a romantic one. And when Åshuvud renders “I Feel Better,” the listener may be left wonder whether the singer really does feel better, despite it being one of the set’s more upbeat numbers.

In a subsequent interview with Brooklyn Roads, Åshuvud told us that the name Arthur Moon was given to her, in a dream, by Rrose Selavy, the female alter ego of cubist/dadaist Marcel Duchamp. Perhaps that’s why what we heard at The Sultan Room sounded like the musical equivalent of abstract art.

Åshuvud also told us that she “listened to all kinds of music growing up. My mom was super into bluegrass and country, and my friends were super into ’90s pop and R&B.”  Such diverse influences as Jill Scott, Old & In the Way, Lauren Hill, Erykah Badu, Hank Snow and Anais Mitchell come into her brain. She added that, “I hope it all comes back out in my music, maybe sort of collaged and deconstructed, when I’m successful.” She also said that growing up in Brooklyn “was a total creative blessing. [There’s] always something amazing to go and hear, never the same thing twice.”

Lau Noah / photo by Kyra Kverno

Opening for Arthur Moon was Lau Noah, a singer-songwriter from Spain who has called Brooklyn home for the last six years. She sang several numbers, including “El Jardinero” “L’adéu” and “Red Bird,” almost exclusively in Spanish, telling the crowd that “language is not an impediment to feel what I feel.” Judging from the reaction to her music, the language barrier did not prevent the crowd from keenly feeling the emotions Noah expressed. Her guitar playing, especially the flamenco riffs, was also exemplary.