Thematically, the EP centres itself around the transformational journey and the idea of standing at a pivot point from where all futures are possible. During his 20s, Sobey experienced long stretches of anxiety and depression and found the shadow of some painful formative experiences difficult to escape. In the midst of this challenging time, he picked up a copy of Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” gifted to him by a then band-mate. Reading the book, something wholly unexpected happened - the spell of the past was briefly broken in a moment of non-religious transcendence and untethered joy. This experience sparked a years-long journey of inner work - one which involved an active practice of therapy, soul-searching & meditation - through which Sobey eventually made peace with the past and began to experience a more connected and joyful day to day existence.

Across six tracks, “All Bridges Burn Behind You” reflects on both the tumult & confusion of those lost years and on the relief & catharsis of discovering how to forge a new path ahead. The EP moves between a range of influences - the shimmery haze of shoegaze; the cosmic dreaming of 60s psychedelia; the blissed out warmth of dream pop and ambient music; the melancholy brooding of post-punk’s most languid balladeers.

Sonically, the EP began as a series of experiments in Sobey’s home studio that sprung from a desire for unfiltered self-expression. Having previously been a guitarist & vocalist in bands while relying on other collaborators to create beats & basslines, Sobey spent the good part of a a year bunkered down in his home studio and teaching himself how to use Ableton & produce independently. While finding his footing programming drums and mixing demos, he also sought to deconstruct his own habits as a guitarist - retuning his Fender Jaguar into an unfamiliar, alternative tuning & tweaking with new sounds on analog synthesisers. As the sound of Moon Elevator came together, the cinematic, lush palette and spiralling guitar textures were informed as much by Sobey’s background as a photographer working with colour grading & photo editing software as any musical influence.

In 2023 he went into the studio at Head Gap in Preston with local producer Rohan Sforcina (Oh Mercy), recording live drum tracks in a session with drummer Nick Reid (Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird). After the session Sobey took the tracks back to the home studio & worked through a long process of curating ideas into final arrangements, meticulously cutting up the drum stems,  recording new synths, bass parts and, finally, vocals. Mixed by Sforcina and AJ Bradford, “All Bridges Burn Behind You” is being released independently on 27th of September, 2024.

The woozy intensity of the EP is reminiscent of Melbourne artists such as Lost Animal, HTRK and Rowland S Howard. You might also file the record alongside international artists such as Slowdive, Blonde Redhead, DIIV & Cate Le Bon. The newly formed Moon Elevator trio - consisting of Sobey on vocals, guitars & synthesisers, Stephanie Davis (Pom Pom) on bass synthesisers and drummer Nigel Moyes (Ferla) behind the kit - is launching the EP with it’s debut show at The Workers Club on Thursday October 17 supported by Kino Motel & Damn Williams.