Song Review:: ASTRO: Moon {Anniversary Tribute}

• Release date: 2025 April 19

• Album tracklist: Moon

• Album runtime: 5 minutes

 I'm going to put this under ASTRO since it is spearheaded by them/Eunwoo. There is a very long list of contributing artists, and given the nature of what this is, yes, I absolutely am going to list all of them with group members in parentheses with their group: (ASTRO: JinJin, MJ, Rocky, Eunwoo, Sanha), (VIVIZ: Eunbi, SinB, Umji), (Monsta X: Minhyuk, Kihyun, I.M), (Seventeen: Hoshi, Wonwoo, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan), (IMFACT: HELLO GLOOM), (Weki Meki: Yoojung, Doyeon), (SF9: Chani), (Stray Kids: Bang Chan), and (Billie: Moon Sua). It's a testament to how many people love Moonbin, really, because this is only a fraction. You can hardly go through the group pages of groups that debuted between 2014 and 2019 without finding a member or two who isn't friends with Moonbin.

I genuinely don't know what form this review is going to take, but I highly doubt a lot of critical reviewing will take place. I never got the chance to do a review for one of his songs as new music, but I hope this way, this can be one more stamp of the presence of Moonbin's life and the legacy of his friendships on the internet, however small this stamp may be. 

I also hope I never have to mark another post as an "Anniversary Tribute" for another artist.

You really can't go wrong with the piano and guitar combo, which is why it's such a classic combination, but what really heightens the song and turns it from simply beautiful and classic into something cinematic and sublime is the introduction of the strings, probably a violin. The three instruments weave together to form an unbreakable backdrop for all of these different artists and friends to come together with one singular purpose: to say "I love you" in as many ways as possible. And I only realized there were drums when I realized I wasn't missing them, so as far as I'm concerned, this is a flawless piece of instrumental work. Each piece works together, fitting with precision so you don't even notice the seams until one of them breaks free to have a solo moment in support of the vocals.

If this weren't the solemn occasion it is, I'd be beside myself with excitement. Collaborations and crossovers are one of my true loves in media, because I get all the things I love mixed up together and I then don't have to choose. As it is, I'm doing my best not to try to understand any of this song right now, because my dog has already tried to get me to stop crying once, and I worry that once I start, I won't stop. The problem (and it's not so much a problem as a deliberate inconvenience because the artists are doing their job to convey the emotions through their voices) is that they're doing their job perfectly, breaking through the language barrier to slam their grief and love into me. It doesn't help that this is such a gorgeous piece of music that I'd likely be moved to tears even if I didn't know what this was for. The richness of the harmonies, the different styles and textures of the individual voices, it all comes together to show explicitly why I love both to sing and to hear other voices singing well and powerfully. This is a heavenly choir on Earth singing a love ballad with heart, and there is nothing more beautiful than this.

I knew it. They made a Moon/문 pun. I've also never been so glad to not know parts of the crossover before in my life, but I suppose there's a first time for everything. 

I realized at one point that I had stopped looking at the lyrics and was just watching them sing because the lyrics made the grief and mourning too palpable. So I watched it again to bear witness. Well... I have nothing else to say. It's a beautiful tribute from his friends and family.