“How can we move forward when we’re going nowhere?” Eric Gagne opens “The Worm Moon” with that question, framing the album in a way that makes its March full moon namesake more than just a title.
For Gagne, it signals the first stirrings of life after desolation, a process of fits, reversals, and uncertain progress. “I’ve always liked the idea of the worm moon,” he says. “It means that even when things seem stagnant, we’re always growing. To me, that’s the only real constant. We should always be reevaluating ourselves and understanding how we’re interacting with the world.”
The record — Footings’ fifth full-length — took shape during a long period shadowed by the pandemic and personal loss. Songs arrived at their own pace, recorded mostly with Ben Rogers at Loud Sun Studios in southern New England. The closer, “I Won’t Go,” came out of a later session with Charlie Chronopoulos at the Glass Factory in Wilton, New Hampshire. Chronopoulos also handled mixing, with mastering by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air.
Instrumentally, “The Worm Moon” stays grounded in acoustic textures — guitar, bass, drums — with a line-up that shifts between solo arrangements and a full quartet on stage. Jordan Holtz of Rick Rude returns on bass, with Candace Clement adding guitar and vocals. New to the group is drummer Mia Govoni, a Berklee graduate whose playing expands the rhythmic scope. Longtime collaborator Elisabeth Fuchsia contributes viola to several tracks but has stepped away from the live band after relocating. “The nice thing about Mia and Jordan and Candace is that I can play them a song and I know that by the time all three of them are done, the song is going to be a million times better,” Gagne says.
Footings’ path connects back to Gagne’s earlier work in Death To Tyrants, formed in 2003 and active on an alternative touring circuit with bands like Ampere. In 2008 he pivoted toward quieter, folk-oriented material in Redwing Blackbird, recording three albums before that project ended in 2013. A short-lived solo phase under the name Passerine led to Footings’ formation in 2012 with Clement and Fuchsia. Since then, the band has toured with Marisa Anderson and served as Bonnie Prince Billy’s backing band in 2022.
The relationship with Don’t Live Like Me Records dates to a chain of connections starting at the Now Denial 10-year anniversary and final Daniel Striped Tiger show at What We Talk About in Allston, Massachusetts, around 2012 or 2013.
That night led to an introduction to Dweller On The Threshold — a project sharing members with Ampere, Daniel Striped Tiger, and Death To Tyrants. When Dweller needed a label for their second volume, Don’t Live Like Me stepped in. The band dissolved soon after, but Gagne invited the label to release the second Footings album, beginning an ongoing collaboration alongside Feeding Tube Records and Sophomore Lounge.
Don’t Live Like Me has now released four Footings full-lengths, the latest marked with a basement show in Jamaica Plain, Boston, featuring Gagne’s friend band Lohman and Rick from Pile. The current circle also includes Candice Clement (All Feels), Jordan Holtz, and Mia Giovani (Gilliver), with past contributors such as Elisabeth Fuchsia, Rick Maguire, and others shaping earlier records.
“The Worm Moon” is out August 1 on Feeding Tube and Don’t Live Like Me Records, with artwork by Kristy Cavaretta. The tracklist runs from the brief opener “The Worm Moon pt 1” through “New Dimension,” “Long Way Home,” “Sid Vicious,” and the six-minute closer “I Won’t Go,” threading its way through stripped, deliberate arrangements that match the slow, uneven push toward renewal at the album’s core.
FOOTINGS will head out on a summer 2025 tour with MIRAH, playing nine shows across the Northeastern US. Kicking off on August 14 in Bath, Maine, and wrapping up on August 23 in Brattleboro, Vermont, the run will include stops in Dover, Camden, Littleton, Burlington, and Catskill. It’s a chance for the band to bring “The Worm Moon” to intimate rooms and spaces that match the organic, acoustic character of their sound.
