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Doling out lyrics like, ‘True love is all for nothing’ and ‘If you only knew I can’t prioritise you/I’m alone and there’s nothing you can do’, AA Williams doesn’t hold back on the heartbreak during her latest album.

The singer/songwriter’s 2020 debut, Forever Blue, lived up to its title with eight forlorn soliloquies and won critical acclaim. Its gloom was only matched by its diversity, as the Londoner folded pop, goth and post-rock music into her canon. There were a plethora of avenues Williams could have taken for the follow-up, and she opted to more fully explore the rock end of her bleak soundscape. The result is less genre-defying upstart and more what would happen if Emma Ruth Rundle sang over God Is An Astronaut. Yet As The Moon Rests is no less enthralling than what preceded it. Explosive snares and guitar chords beneath sensuous, multitracked hums lend this hour all the gravitas of an epic tragedy. Pristine is especially heart-wrenching, escalating over seven minutes to a symphony-supported crescendo. Now responsible for two consecutive masterpieces, Williams has affirmed herself as the one of the UK’s most compelling young solo acts.

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.