The indie-folk duo released their debut EP, “I Wish Venus Had a Moon,” on October 13th, bringing glittering harmonies and poignant songwriting to SU’s music scene.

Words By Grace Stecher / Graphic by Lily Greco / Cover Art by Mia Ignazio

All-female bands have been transforming the music industry for decades. Explore any genre and you’ll find a group of women bringing a new sound front and center, everything from Bikini Kill and the subsequent riot grrrl movement in the early 1990s to boygenius and the shift towards sentimental, emotionally charged music in the 2020s. 
Syracuse University sophomores Anjali Engstrom and Grace Ferguson formed the indie-folk duo known as Luna and the Carpets during their freshman year after being paired up as roommates and spent the 2022-2023 school year creating their debut EP. While honoring their girl group predecessors, Luna and the Carpets bring a refreshing indie-folk sound to SU’s saturated music scene on “I Wish Venus Had a Moon.” 

In a recent Instagram post, Engstrom and Ferguson described the focuses of their EP as “love, loss, and becoming the best version of yourself all while navigating your freshman year of college.” Featuring eight songs, “I Wish Venus Had a Moon” captures the feelings that come while simultaneously enduring life’s challenges and discovering who you are away from home.

The album begins with soft guitar strums on “Stay Away From Me,” which flow into steady drum beats that frame paradoxical harmonies pleading, “Stay away from me, I love you” and, “You make me hurt, I think I love you.” In the sporadic moments when all the instruments pause, allowing just the voices to shine, it is impossible to avoid the raw passion in both the singers’ voices. 

With “Saint,” Luna and the Carpets move away from the calmer indie sound and demonstrate their ability to adapt to the rock-tinged pop scene, showcasing impressive vocal range and a catchy beat. The lyrics about a complicated relationship filled with sometimes false expectations finish off with the statement “I’m in too deep,” and the song wraps up with a punchy electric guitar line. 

The title track “I Wish Venus Had a Moon” follows. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars with the singers’ clear tones makes for a song bursting with warmth and longing. The line “Can you love me tomorrow, because I know I will” encapsulates the inner struggle with relationships that Engstrom and Ferguson describe throughout the EP, their harmonies dripping with nostalgia.

With a mere 1:13 runtime, “Somewhere, Nowhere” puts the singers’ sound front and center, with simple acoustic guitar backing their voices as they ebb and flow. Reminiscent of the beginning of Noah Kahan’s “Your Needs, My Needs,” the track, although simple, is a vocal performance steeped in emotion. 

Continuing with the simplistic theme, “Door County Sunsets” comes in around halfway through the album’s tracklist. The focus is primarily on the impactful lyrics rather than the instruments or the beat. The lyric “They ripped off your training wheels without ever asking how it feels” encapsulates the feeling of navigating college, a line that makes sense considering the EP was crafted in the band’s freshman dorm room. 

The album’s sixth song, “Collecting Dust,” features the vocalists tapping into their lower ranges accompanied by moody piano chords. One of the more somber tracks on “I Wish Venus Had a Moon,” the lyrics describe missing someone, using evocative descriptions of their blue tie-dye curtains collecting dust to immerse listeners in a wistful scene.

“You” returns to the album’s familiar harmonizations and acoustic guitar strums. During the five-minute runtime, the artists sing about being enthralled by a mysterious, nebulous figure whose identity is up for interpretation by listeners. The lyric “My brain is categorized by you” emphasizes the incredible hold this “you” character has on the singers’ consciences. 

The EP wraps up with “The Traveler (Mountain Song),” filled with magical plucky guitar that demonstrates the vocalists’ natural aptitude for folk music. The line, “Your face is like the moon, warm with the tides that pull me to you” ties the final track back to the title of the album. Luna and the Carpets’ signature effortless harmonization is in full force during this track, making it the perfect closer for their debut EP.

It’s been less than a year since Luna and the Carpets formed, and only just over a year since they first met, but “I Wish Venus Had a Moon” makes that hard to believe. Every track is filled with emotional lyricism, intriguing instrumentation, and glittering, seamless harmonies. With their unique indie folk sound, Luna and the Carpets has the potential to enter the Girl Group Hall of Fame, and Syracuse is anxiously waiting for what Anjali Engstrom and Grace Ferguson will create next.