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"New Moon Rising"
Single by Wolfmother
from the album Cosmic Egg
Released	25 August 2009 (release history)
Length	3:43
Label	Modular
Songwriter(s)	Andrew Stockdale
Producer(s)	Alan Moulder
Wolfmother singles chronology
"Back Round" (2009) "New Moon Rising" (2009) "White Feather" (2009)

"New Moon Rising" is a song by Australian hard rock band Wolfmother. It was released on their second studio album Cosmic Egg, released in 2009. The song shares its name with an Australian concert tour by the band, the New Moon Rising Tour, and was released as the lead single from the album on 25 August 2009. According to the Australian Recording Industry Association, in 2009 in Australia, "New Moon Rising" was the 49th best-selling single by an Australian artist.

Background and composition

The phrase "New Moon Rising" was first revealed as Wolfmother-related in July 2009, when the band's New Moon Rising Tour was announced. As a song, "New Moon Rising" was first revealed as part of Cosmic Egg's track listing following a listening party in the United States in late-July, where it was shown to be positioned third between "California Queen" and "White Feather". When the album's track listing was officially revealed in August, the song was shown to be positioned second – preceded and succeeded by the same tracks – due to the omission of opening track "Back Round". The song received its first radio play on Australian network Triple J on 13 August 2009, described as "a thumping, ripping slice of optimistic future-blues." It will be released as a single on 5 October, followed by the album in the succeeding weeks. The song was uploaded to the band's official MySpace page on 17 August 2009.

Canadian radio station The Edge revealed, according to an interview with lead vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, that the song "was inspired by some very odd encounters he had after work," quoting him as saying the following:

When I'd drive home, like at the end of the night, I'd see all these like native animals that I'd never seen in my entire life. Like, I was driving along and in the middle of the road was this four-foot-high koala. And I've never seen a koala! Another night I saw an animal with spikes all over it. So it was kind of bizarre, like, around the time of "New Moon Rising," I saw a lot of, like, wildlife that people even in that town said they'd never seen their whole life.

The song was used in an episode of The World's Strictest Parents. The song was also featured in the trailer for Due Date starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis

Style and influences

In a pre-release review of the album, American music magazine Spin offered the following background and description of "New Moon Rising":

The lyrics for this track were handed out to all the guests at the listening party, so I guess we're supposed to take them as some sort of statement of intent. In which case, the lines "Well he's scared of the people / He don't wanna be the whipping boy / But the time has come now / Gotta hit that highway" reads like Stockdale's coming to terms with continuing the band. A very Queens of the Stone Age-y low-string guitar riff fuels this one, which also features some nice unaccompanied drum breaks.

Music video

The music video for "New Moon Rising" premiered on MTV Australia on 13 October 2009.

Track listing

All songs written by Andrew Stockdale.

Charts

Release history

"New Moon Rising" was released as a digital download-only single in August 2009 internationally; the specific dates were as follows: 21 August in Ireland; 24 August in Kuwait, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan,Qatar, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, the Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen; 25 August in Australia, Canada, China, Iceland, Portugal, Taiwan and the United States; and 28 August in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela. A CD single was also released in Australia, and a 12" picture disc was issued in the UK.

References

1. "New Moon Rising > Overview". allmusic. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
2. "The ARIA Report: Issue 2009" (PDF). The ARIA Report. Australian Web Archive (originally the Australian Recording Industry Association). 5 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
3. "Wolfmother - New Moon Rising Tour September 2009". Modular Records. 6 July 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
4. "Wolfmother headline tour this September". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
5. theemikeb (28 July 2009). "@andrefool boom!!!". Twitpic. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
6. ^ "Cosmic Egg Is Coming". Wolfmother (MySpace). 10 August 2009. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
7. ^ Cashmere, Paul (11 August 2009). "Wolfmother Cosmic Egg First Listen". Undercover Media Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
8. "Brand new Wolfmother single to premier on triple j today". Triple J. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
9. "Wolfmother announce new album release date and tracklisting". NME. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
10. Andrew Stockdale (18 August 2009). "New Moon Rising is up now ..." Twitter. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
11. "'New Moon' Rises For Wolfmother". The Edge. 18 August 2009. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
12. David Marchese (4 August 2009). "First Listen: Wolfmother's New Album". Spin. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
13. "Aussie Rockers' New Moon Rising Premieres Only on MTV Australia..." MTV Australia. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
14. "Wolfmother Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
15. "Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg". αCharts.us. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
16. "New Moon Rising, Single Release Dates and Pre-Sale Update". Wolfmother. 22 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
17. "Wolfmother New Moon Rising Australia 5" CD SINGLE (485145)". eil.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
18. "Wolfmother New Moon Rising UK 12" PICTURE DISC (485953)". eil.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.

• 2009 singles
• Wolfmother songs
• Songs written by Andrew Stockdale
• Song recordings produced by Alan Moulder
• 2009 songs
• Modular Recordings singles