Mandy Moore Makes Her Move

Like many of her fellow Angelenos, Mandy Moore is experienced at talking on her cell phone while negotiating sharp curves. “I’m driving up Coldwater Canyon, so if I lose you, I’ll call you right back,” she says, repeating the L.A. commuter’s mantra.

The 23-year-old actress and one-time teen-pop star is doing press for Wild Hope, on which she reintroduces herself as a credible singer/songwriter. Produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Rachael Yamagata), the album features collaborations with critically adored writers/artists, including Yamagata, Lori McKenna and husband/wife duo The Weepies, who co-wrote five songs, including the catchy yet extremely personal single “Extraordinary.” All of her collaborators remain far outside the mainstream.

“No one was expecting anything from me,” Moore acknowledges, “so that opened the door for me to try just about anything. I’m perplexed as to why the music of The Weepies and the other people I co-wrote with isn’t embraced by absolutely everybody — that’s what I feel it deserves. I chose each of them because not only would I be introducing them to a whole new audience, but it would be a wonderful learning experience for me as well — and I think we’re gonna get the best of both worlds out of it.”

The new album documents a painful break-up and its aftermath — the writing of the material coincided with the arc of Moore’s relationship with Scrubs and Garden State star Zach Braff. “It was therapeutic to sit down and really get out of my head and turn something kind of negative into something positive that I could stand up and be proud of,” she explains. “I think I’m a stronger person than I give myself credit for, and that’s definitely something I’ve learned not only from the songwriting process but from the songs themselves.”

Moore began her reinvention in 2003 with Coverage, on which she sang her favorite songs from artists like Todd Rundgren and XTC’s Andy Partridge; she describes the making of that record as “the ultimate karaoke experience.” The tracking of Wild Hope last fall at Allaire Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., would introduce her to live-off-the-floor record-making, putting her right in the thick of the action. “Coming from a pop background, where I’d always sung to a finished track, to have the band playing around me while I sang was so cool,” says Moore with obvious delight. “I thought, ‘Oh, this is how it’s supposed to be. Now I get it.’”