Moon Taxi didn’t set out to reinvent themselves on Highwave. Instead, they leaned into something that had always been there — a current running just beneath the surface of their sound — and let it crest.
“That’s kind of always a goal,” guitarist Spencer Thomson says of the band’s stylistic range. “But especially on this record, we wanted to have some diversity. It was definitely a conscious goal to make the cohesive element a beachier, feel-good vibe for the most part — as a through line while the styles switched up.”
From the jam-friendly lift of “Diving Board” to the breezy warmth of “Good To Me,” Highwave plays like a sun-drenched exhale. The record carries a celebratory undercurrent, something Thomson traces back to a deeper immersion in the reggae and reggae-adjacent community.
“The band’s always kind of had one foot in the reggae and reggae-adjacent world,” he explains. “More recently, we’ve been inspired by that scene and the sense of community there. We wanted to go a little further into that world while still doing our thing — borrowing from it and putting our spin on it. I think that’s what gives this album its sense of uniqueness.”
That spirit of community shows up most clearly in the guest list: G. Love, Claire Wright, The Movement, Tropidelic, and Mihali all make appearances. For Thomson, collaboration isn’t just a creative tool — it’s a philosophy.
“I love the amount of collaboration in that world — how frequently everybody hops on each other’s songs,” he says. “That whole sense of everyone working together and the sum being greater than the parts is something we gravitated toward and wanted to lean into even more.”
Features, he adds, have a way of expanding a song beyond its original frame. “You might have an idea, but it’s never quite like that. It becomes, ‘Okay, I thought this song was this — now it’s expanded and has another dimension.’ It’s always exciting to see where features take a song.”
The album also marks a new chapter behind the scenes. After stints on RCA and BMG, Moon Taxi partnered with Ineffable Records — a move that felt aligned with both their sound and their independence.
“They let artists take the lead and present their vision,” Thomson says. “They provide advice, infrastructure, and support — which is what you want from a label. Ultimately, we were free to make the music how we wanted to make it.”
That freedom fueled an album designed as an escape. “Hopefully it’s a record you can put on and feel positive about,” Thomson says. “There’s enough to get you down out there. It’d be nice to have forty-five minutes where you can just feel good.”
On Highwave, Moon Taxi aren’t chasing trends — they’re chasing light.
Watch the full interview with Moon Taxi Below!
