Nathan Kim - Moonchild

Nathan Kim

Moon child
​self-released; 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Nathan Kim is a singer/songwriter from New York who recently released a nine-song album entitled Moonchild. It’s a loose concept about a fictitious character called Moonchild who was based on Kim many years ago. He explains “ moonchild is like any ordinary person that falls in love and feels sadness. However, there's an emptiness inside him that makes him feel like he is from another world.” Truth be told feelings of being isolated, empty and like an anomaly are quite common. In fact I think everyone goes through something like this at some point in their life. I have. I know friends who have and there are probably a ton of people reading this right now that feel similarly. The point is that people will relate to the story Kim is telling.

Musically, Moonchild is quite varied with elements of blues, jazz, pop, rock and R&B. The songs are catchy but some take a little time to sink in while others I enjoyed right off the bat.

He kicks off with “When It Rains On the Moon” which moves at a slow pace and mixes R&B blues and rock. It was an odd choice for an opener in my opinion because of the pace and melancholy. He sings “If I don’t see anyone out walking around, my loneliness is justified /Maybe that’s why I like the winter, ‘cause then I won’t notice that you’re gone.”

The energy starts to pick up with “Lone Blue” which is more or less classic blues rock. It’s a solid song with some notable lead guitar and electric piano. The highlight on the album is “Easier” Kim’s finest moment is during the verse. He sounds excellent in this octave when he sings “Cause it's easier when you are here, no dream could scare me since you were my dream / Yeah it's easier when I can hear your voice when I'm up and when I'm asleep.” This is his best vocal performance.

“Strange Enough” moves really slowly and takes a little patience to get through. It’s a ballad that reminded me of ’50s pop with karaoke. There are some more successes as the album moves forward. He definitely enjoys the slow moving blues jams as he closes the album with the title track.

​Moonlight is a solid album with some mishaps and inspired moments. I definitely enjoyed some songs more than others. Check it out.

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