This is Us Star Mandy Moore Returns to Music Scene
This is Us Star Mandy Moore Returns to Music Scene
On May 13, Mandy Moore will release her new full-length studio album, In Real Life, via Verve Forecast. The new album follows Silver Landings, the critically acclaimed album that marked Moore’s first new body of work in over a decade and was released in March 2020 on the edge of the pandemic. In Real Life brings a new level of self-possession to Moore’s songwriting, imbuing each track with both detailed storytelling and lucid self-reflection. From the very first seconds of the album’s opening title track, Moore fully immerses the listener in her intimate lyricism and kaleidoscopic sound.
Along with the album, Moore announced an expansive summer headlining tour for North America, her first in over a decade, and is set to perform at Newport Folk Festival in July. The tour will kick off at the Variety Playhouse on June 10 in Atlanta, GA and will visit 26 major cities including Webster Hall in New York on June 15, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on June 25 and The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on July 22. For concert tickets, visit HERE.
Produced by Mike Viola (Andrew Bird, Ondara, Lori McKenna), In Real Life expands on the whirlwind creative momentum Moore first set into motion on 2020’s Silver Landings. To that end, Moore matches the album’s potent emotional current with a gloriously unpredictable sound, touched with elements of everything from jangly college-rock to cinematic synth-pop to classic singer/songwriter simplicity. Thanks to the charmed camaraderie and playful experimentation of Moore and her collaborators—including her husband Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and his brother/bandmate Griffin Goldsmith, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, keyboardist Lee Pardini (The War on Drugs, Aimee Mann), and bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Sharon Van Etten, Phoebe Bridgers)—In Real Life embodies a dreamy effervescence even in its most heavy-hearted moments.
“So much of this record came from future-tripping on the next chapter of my life and what it might look like: what parenthood would feel like, how it would change everything, and all the excitement and trepidation that comes with that,” says Moore. “At the same time it was about celebrating and acknowledging where we were at the moment and really trying to be completely present in the everyday—which is maybe the hardest part of the human condition.”
All throughout In Real Life, Moore suffuses her lyrics with an unguarded humanity that’s undeniably tied to her philosophy as a songwriter. “To me it’s all about staying open, staying aware, staying sensitive and empathetic to the people around me,” she says. “There’s something about expressing myself through lyrics and melody that makes me feel whole, and I see it as a privilege to have that outlet. And even though this album is very specific to me and my experience—there’s songs about my baby, my husband, my father, my friends—I hope everyone’s able to see their own lives in it. I hope they’re able to come along on the journey with me, and put themselves in the driver’s seat.”
Standouts on the album include the acoustic-guitar-laced “Four Moons,” with its heavenly harmonies and hypnotic B3 organ, the wildly glittering “Little Dreams” and “In Other Words,” a rhythmically euphoric song where Moore attempts to quantify her love for her son.
As with the energy Mandy Moore presents herself, In Real Life radiates the kind of dazzling clarity that brightens our own perspective, ultimately making the world around us feel wider and warmer and alive with possibility.
For additional information on the album and upcoming shows, visit mandymoore.com
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