Raspberry Moon by Hotline TNT

Hotline TNT Raspberry Moon

76
ChoruScore
16 reviews
Established consensus
Jun 20, 2025
Release Date
NOVUM
Label
Established consensus Broadly positive consensus

Hotline TNT's Raspberry Moon stakes a persuasive claim as the band's most collaborative and arena-minded statement yet, earning favorable notice for its blend of 90s grunge revival, shoegaze textures, and melodic hookcraft. Across professional reviews, critics point to the record's emotional transparency and layered gu

Reviews
16 reviews
Last Updated
Nov 29, 2025
Confidence
86%
Scale
0-100 critics
Primary Praise

The album's core strengths are its balance of shoegaze and power-pop, strong production, and a mix of explosive and tender moments.

Primary Criticism

The album’s core strengths are increased lyrical vulnerability and richer, more cohesive full-band textures despite some uneven second-half moments.

Who It Fits

Best for listeners looking for shoegaze and power pop, starting with Scene and general guitar work.

Standout Tracks
Scene general guitar work Julia's War

Full consensus notes

Hotline TNT's Raspberry Moon stakes a persuasive claim as the band's most collaborative and arena-minded statement yet, earning favorable notice for its blend of 90s grunge revival, shoegaze textures, and melodic hookcraft. Across professional reviews, critics point to the record's emotional transparency and layered guitars as the engine that turns compact songcraft into memorable moments, and the consensus suggests the album mostly succeeds at balancing fuzz and tunefulness.

The critical consensus, reflected in a 76.06/100 score across 16 professional reviews, repeatedly highlights standout tracks that define the record's strengths. Reviewers consistently praise “Julia's War” and “Break Right” for singalong choruses and arena-ready hooks, while “The Scene” (also cited as “Scene”), “Was I Wrong?” and “Candle” are singled out for their blend of catharsis and guitar virtuosity. Critics note themes of earnestness, Midwestern wistfulness, romance and hope, and a shift from solo project intimacy to fuller band cohesion; production choices such as cleaner drums and textured reverb let melody surface from noise, making the best songs on Raspberry Moon feel immediate.

While most reviews celebrate the record's melodic gains and sonic expansion, some critics register unevenness - a few mid-album moments land less forcefully, and debates about versatility versus cohesion recur - yet the prevailing narrative frames the collection as a confident step forward. For readers wondering whether Raspberry Moon is good or what the best songs are, the critics' verdict points toward its standout singles and guitar-driven highlights as the album's most rewarding offerings. Explore the full reviews below to hear why professional reviewers name these tracks as the record's centerpieces.

Critics' Top Tracks

The standout songs that made critics take notice

1

general guitar work

1 mention

"shortlisting Anderson alongside Mdou Moctar and MJ Lenderman as the very best 6-string Gods alive."
The Line of Best Fit
2

Scene

1 mention

"The first, "Scene", features layers of guitars and arena-ready drums"
Glide Magazine
3

Julia's War

9 mentions

"the way he weaves acoustic and distorted guitars and blasts of needling feedback into something as beguiling as Julia’s War"
The Guardian
provide a strong foundation for the distorted guitars and harmonies of the yearning love song (in fuzzed fashion) "Candle", both top-notch
G
Glide Magazine
about "Candle"
Read full review
10 mentions
78% sentiment

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

tarot ○ ambient cards

0 mentions
06:32
2

elmas izmirli deniz benim herif ◐ ambient sea

0 mentions
06:32
3

depresso fortunato ∽ ambient blues

0 mentions
06:34
4

не расслабляйся ⬡ ambient tension

0 mentions
06:34
5

ginevra ◯ ambient mist

1 mention
100
03:44
6

love yourself! ▽ ambient self

0 mentions
06:32
7

veterano ⟐ ambient memories

1 mention
5
06:34
8

i just wasn't made for these times ◊ ambient isolation

2 mentions
35
05:52

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What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 16 critics who reviewed this album

Critic's Take

That balance of raw ‘90s energy and plaintive, melodic power-pop is why queries about the best tracks on Raspberry Moon land firmly on these standout moments. Overall, the tone is celebratory and emphatic: this may be the best shoegaze power-pop record you'll hear this year.

Key Points

  • The album's core strengths are its balance of shoegaze and power-pop, strong production, and a mix of explosive and tender moments.

Themes

shoegaze power pop band collaboration melancholy and catharsis dynamic production

Critic's Take

In their characteristically trenchant voice the reviewer argues that Hotline TNT's Raspberry Moon finds its best moments where noise and song collide, naming tracks like “tarot ◌ ambient cards” and “ginevra ◯ ambient mist” as clearest examples of the band rethinking shoegaze. The piece repeatedly praises how the band balances fuzz and melody, making the best songs on Raspberry Moon feel both nostalgic and freshly conceived. The reviewer's tone is measured but admiring, pointing to those songs as the record's emotional and sonic center. Overall, the narrative frames the best tracks as proof that Hotline TNT have broadened their palette without losing their signature bite.

Key Points

  • The best song is powerful because it fuses noise and melody into a convincing new direction for the band.
  • The album's core strengths are its balance of distortion and tunefulness and its redefinition of genre expectations.

Themes

distortion vs melody nostalgia genre redefinition

Critic's Take

The voice throughout is admiring and keen-eyed, arguing that this first collective recording shows increased weight and intricacy in the songwriting and arrangements.

Key Points

  • The album's core strength is its blend of gritty garage fuzz and emotive, hopeful songwriting amplified by collective performance and production finesse.

Themes

hope optimism garage rock fuzz emotive instrumentation collective songwriting

Critic's Take

The reviewer's voice revels in the contrast between blistering, THX-like crescendos and stripped-back acoustic sorrow, arguing that the album's stacked guitars and newfound live drums make these songs the record's high points. Overall, the record is framed as Hotline TNT's cleanest, most self-assured collection yet, where hope and heartbreak coexist compellingly.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are its clean, expertly stacked guitars, newfound live drums, and a balance of hopeful and melancholic songwriting.

Themes

growth from DIY to fuller band sound layered guitars and shoegaze intensity romance and hope heartbreak and vulnerability cleaner production with live drums

Critic's Take

The record keeps the trademark walls of fuzz but gains space and sophistication, so searches for the best songs on Raspberry Moon will often point to those three pieces. The result is an album where collaboration tempers gloom and allows tune to surface from the noise.

Key Points

  • The album's core strengths are collaborative energy, dynamic control between noise and tune, and refined songwriting.

Themes

collaboration noise-pop fusion dynamics between acoustic and distorted guitars emotional shift due to romance

Critic's Take

The reviewer keeps returning to the band’s layered, twinkling guitars and soaring harmonies as the reasons these songs stand out, calling the arrangements dynamite and polished. Overall, the best songs on Raspberry Moon are the ones that marry big hooks with shimmering guitar textures, and the record rewards repeated listens.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are layered, twinkling guitars, strong production touches, and arena-sized hooks.

Themes

90s grunge revival arena-ready hooks textured guitars band cohesion

Critic's Take

The record’s virtues are simple: immaculate guitar layering, a newfound studio dynamism, and an ability to make loud-quiet contrasts land like cinematic tides. This is Hotline TNT at their most generous, a trust fall that lands with friends waiting on the other side.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are immaculate guitar layering, full-band dynamism, and a talent for understated romantic shoegaze.

Themes

shoegaze revival band dynamics guitar virtuosity nostalgia melodic contrasts

Critic's Take

Will Hermes hears a Nineties redux—Dinosaur Jr. and Cocteau Twins wash—so the best tracks on Raspberry Moon are those that marry noisy guitars with tuneful Midwestern melancholy. Overall, the album’s strongest moments are its melodic hooks framed by shimmering, oceanic guitar tones.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are melodic tunefulness paired with shoegaze-tinged guitar noise and Midwestern wistfulness.

Themes

nostalgia 90s revival Midwestern wistfulness shoegaze and guitar noise band cohesion vs solo project

Critic's Take

Overall the tone is admiring and affectionate, pitching Raspberry Moon as the project's fullest, most emotionally transparent record yet.

Key Points

  • The album's core strengths are communal warmth, emotional transparency, and pervasive shoegaze-tinged guitar hooks.

Themes

community emotional transparency shoegaze guitars and reverb hooks/fuzz
79

Critic's Take

The review frames the album’s best tracks as muscular, hook-heavy anthems that let fuzz be an accent rather than a mask. Ultimately, the critic positions these top songs as the reason Raspberry Moon feels bigger, bolder, and more assured.

Key Points

  • Raspberry Moon's core strengths are bigger, hook-heavy songwriting and judicious shoegaze texture that foregrounds each instrument and earnest lyricism.

Themes

shoegaze revival arena-ready sound catchy hooks lyrical brevity earnestness

Critic's Take

Carlo Thomas writes in a measured, comparative voice, noting how the first half coheres with powerful riffs and emotive vocals while the second half reveals softer, more expansive turns - this makes the best tracks on Raspberry Moon stand out as exemplars of the band's strengths.

Key Points

  • The album's strengths are cohesive shoegaze momentum, strong melodies, and successful collaboration expanding the band's sound.

Themes

shoegaze momentum melody and nostalgia band collaboration vs solo intent sonic expansion

Critic's Take

Patrick Gill’s voice here is measured but impressed, noting how the full-band dynamic yields immediacy and crisp arrangements that reward early listens. Overall, the record trades some novelty for sophistication, and its direct rockers are where the album truly clicks.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are crisp, hooky arrangements, brighter sonic palette, and the vibrancy of a full-band effort.

Critic's Take

The review balances admiration and measured critique, highlighting versatility that never feels scattered and celebrating the album's knack for keeping similar moods feeling fresh. Ultimately, the critic positions these standout tracks as the record's most immediate rewards, recommending Raspberry Moon to fans of great guitar music and heavy atmospheres.

Key Points

  • The album’s core strengths are guitar-led arrangements and immersive atmospheres that maintain cohesion while showing subtle versatility.

Themes

guitar-driven arrangements atmosphere midwestern emo versatility vs cohesion

Key Points

  • The opening tracks are best because they showcase full-band dynamics, emotional guitar walls and stronger songwriting.
  • The album’s core strengths are increased lyrical vulnerability and richer, more cohesive full-band textures despite some uneven second-half moments.

Themes

friendship love band collaboration vulnerability shoegaze textures