Anthony Moore with AKA & Friends – No Parlez
Anthony Moore reunites with collaborators for “No Parlez,” breathing new life into six decades of songwriting. Recorded live at The Beacon in Spring 2024, the album finds the Slapp Happy founder reimagining his catalog with AKA & Friends — a trio featuring Keith Rodway on keyboards and Amanda Thompson on vocals and keys.
Moore’s approach here feels like a conversation. His guitar and piano work anchors these chamber folk arrangements, while the expanded lineup adds double bass (Olie Brice), trombone (Tullis Rennie), and violin (Richard Moore). The live recording captures an intimate energy that studio polish might have killed.
AKA hail from Hastings, that seaside town with its own mystic reputation. Their sound reflects this coastal atmosphere — waves of melody that shift between Moore’s avant-garde past and his pop sensibilities. Amanda Thompson’s vocals weave through the arrangements, sometimes doubling Moore, sometimes creating harmonic counterpoint.
The production stays faithful to the live setting. Moore handled recording, engineering, and mixing duties himself, with JJ Golden mastering in California. It’s a deliberate choice that preserves the communal feeling of the sessions.
Moore’s been making music since the ’70s progressive era, and “No Parlez” shows he’s still finding new ways to present old songs. The chamber folk approach suits material that spans decades, creating a unified listening experience from what could have been a scattered retrospective.
