Mandy Moore released her new album Amanda Leigh yesterday, and if I hadn’t happened to notice it being advertised on the iTunes homepage, I would have had no idea it existed.
And that got me thinking… why isn’t Mandy Moore more popular? She’s proven herself as both an actress and musician, yet despite kicking around for ten years, she’s never broken through to superstardom. She’s an HBO talent with, at best, a Style Channel profile.
Does anyone have theories on this? Is it because she’s not a freak? I know we Westerners often like our young female stars to be damaged, so we can experience both horror and delight as they subvert of our unfair standards of feminine propriety. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse… they’re all trainwrecks, so we scold and gawk and go crazy for them.
Mandy Moore, meanwhile, has never spazzed out. In fact, I don’t know anything about her, except that she seems polite, hard-working, and talented. Maybe she’s a little conservative, sure,but not so conservative that she won’t star in an awesome movie like Saved!.
In other words, Moore’s the kind of celebrity I prefer, because she’s not up in my face. But maybe that’s what’s keeping her from becoming a bigger star.
Yet even as I espouse that theory, I can contradict it. For every Winehouse flameout, there’s a Kate Winslet or Carrie Underwood success story that lets us focus on a young female artist’s talent more than her personal life.
So again… why the lack of Mandy Moore love, especially since she’s demonstrated awesomeness in two media? As an actress, she’s reasonably good in bad movies (A Walk to Remember, Because I Said So) and very good in good ones (Saved!), and that’s just her sideline career.
It’s her music that merits the most enthusiasm. After the jump, I’ll explain why…
Before I begin, try to forget Mandy Moore’s roots as an anonymous teen-pop singer. For several years now, she’s been repositioning herself as a folk-rock singer-songwriter, collaborating with brilliant artists like country heartbreaker Lori McKenna and Candy Butchers‘ Mike Viola. Her music is thoughtful and pretty and tinged with enough rock to give it a spine.
Here’s the first single from Amanda Leigh, “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week.” It’s poppier than the rest of the record, but it’s musically delicious:
This song, “Everblue,” is the kind of lush ballad that has become Moore’s specialty:
And somewhere between those two is “Love to Love Me Back,” which is just the kind of Lilith Fair anthem I want when I’m feeling contemplative (or I’m cleaning my apartment.)
And look, I know this isn’t going to be everyone’s ultimate jam, but surely there are people out there who would love this music if they only knew about it. So I ask for the final time: Why don’t they know about it?
9 responses so far ↓
1 M // May 27, 2009 at 12:59 am
I agree. I *love* her and simply do not understand why she is not a bigger talent!
2 Seth Christenfeld // May 27, 2009 at 1:06 am
I haven’t listened to any of the tracks yet–I half-look forward to them, as I like Moore’s voice but haven’t been too big on most of the songs. (Conversely, I relish the hell out of the stuff on her covers disc–the choices are kind of brilliant).
That said, she really needs to do a madcap film comedy (and a good one, i.e. not License to Wed)–she displayed a terrific facility for slapstick during her short run on Scrubs a few years ago.
3 Gonzalo // May 27, 2009 at 9:44 am
So glad you’re pointing this out. I’ve had heated discussion trying to point out to my friends that she’s the real deal, and it’s always an uphill climb.
I think she never became as famous as the other teen girl stars (a.k.a. Britney Christina Barcelona) because she came in a bit late in the game, was comparatively edge-less, and she lacked a single powerful enough to make her a big star (even though her early albums were much more consistent, and often more interesting than Brit’s, X-tina’s, and – good lord – Jessica’s).
And after that, I guess people have had a hard time taking her seriously. Too bad, their loss, and rock on Mandy!
BTW, another cool acting job: JD’s girlfriend in Scrubs. i.e. she can be funny too!
@Seth: YES. Coverage is awesome, and the song selection is a big part of the awesomeness (I love that I discovered a few really cool semi-classic songs through it). To me, that CD was her turning point, and the first thing that made me a fan.
4 Gryph // May 27, 2009 at 10:54 am
I love Mandy Moore and frequently wonder the same thing. I know everyone loves a comeback story, which is, I think, why we love the Britney’s of the world. Their spectacular flameouts mean their return to the top is even more impressive. But for me, I’ve always liked people like Mandy Moore who get by on their talent and not their media.
I am glad you posted this, because I didn’t know about her new album either!
5 jlf // May 27, 2009 at 11:59 am
Have you heard her cover Rihanna’s song “Umbrella?” If not, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MandyMooreUmbrella
6 Destiny // May 27, 2009 at 1:56 pm
When Mandy emerged with “Candy” many moons ago, she got lost in the mix of blonde teenage singers of that time (Brittney, Christina, Jessica) and I think that prevents some people from taking her seriously.
Darkening her hair, breaking into acting, and marrying Ryan Adams are all steps in the right direction, but I think it will still take some time and another edgier record to shake off the pop princess label.
7 Amanda // May 29, 2009 at 3:47 am
Sarah S. and I saw Mandy Moore at a J. Crew in Boston a few years ago. She was totally accosted by some tween girl fans and was just gracious as could be, taking photos with them and then going back to buying her tortoiseshell hair clip or whatever. I haven’t even listened to her music, but I became a fan of her shopping-at-J. Crew-self. She was doing it even before Michelle Obama! Go Mandy.
8 Tony // May 29, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Brilliant post!! I’m from the UK and have been a huge support of Mandy for years.
In answering your question. Mandy Moore has not released anything officially music wise in the UK & Europe for alomst a decade!!! We’ve had no self-titled album or Coverage. Wild Hope made it onto iTunes UK, then was removed, but no Physical release. We are still yet awaiting to see if the UK will be graced with Amanda Leigh.
How can Mandy Moore get popular when her mature sound has yet to been given the opportunity in this country and in Europe?
Maybe it down to poor management.
9 Kerri Allen // Jun 3, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I LOVE MANDY MOORE. And she’s a nice kid. But let’ snot wish fame on her. We like her.
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