FEATURE:
Spotlight
Amelia Moore
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I am going to start out…
with an interview from CLASH from late last year. It was with the sensational Amelia Moore. Before I get to that, I want to introduce people to this artist and give them a sense of her background and how she progressed. Bring us up to 2021. Even though she has been on the scene a little while, I think the past year or so has seen her ascend to new heights. Let’s get to some biography first:
“Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Amelia Moore creates the kind of visionary alt-pop that both defies all expecation and feels immediately essential. In a whirlwind journey she describes as “homeschool to Hollywood,” the 21-year-old Georgia native got her start singing in the church choir as a little kid, followed her dreams to Los Angeles at age 18, and soon attracted a massive following on the strength of her bold but vulnerable songwriting (a feat that includes gaining over 50,000 followers on Spotify before she’d even officially released a song). True to her TikTok and Instagram handle (@icryatwork), the 21-year-old artist approaches all her music with a fierce commitment to total emotional transparency—an irresistible counterpart to her kaleidoscopic and endlessly unpredictable sound.
Originally from Lawrenceville (a town outside Atlanta), Moore grew up in a conservative Christian household and first discovered her natural musicality by singing in the choir and taking up violin at age five. But despite her immense talent on the violin, she felt compelled to expand her horizons. “From a really young age I felt creatively trapped and knew I wanted to write my own music, so I quit violin and taught myself piano on a cheap little Casio keyboard,” she says. Also a worship leader at her church, Moore began writing her own songs at age 13 and within two years joined an Atlanta-based artist development training program to sharpen her vocal and performance skills. When her parents refused to pay for the program (“I remember them telling me, ‘Maybe music can be a hobby, and you can be pharmaceutical sales rep instead,’” she recalls), Moore got a job at a fast-food chain and raised the money on her own. “It completely changed my life—from then on I believed in myself 1,000 percent,” she says.
After graduating from high school at 16, Moore kept on writing songs and ventured into producing for other artists, then enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville. “It was the craziest culture shock I’ve ever experienced in my life,” she says. “I went from being so sheltered to being surrounded by kids who are all drinking, partying, hooking up, and pretty quickly I started questioning everything I was raised to believe.” As she broke out of her shell and adjusted to life on campus, Moore continued collaborating remotely with her longtime friend Austin Sanders (aka ASTN, a Florida-bred singer/songwriter), and soon began heading to L.A. for co-writing sessions. During her first trip, she crossed paths with up-and-coming producer Pink Slip and instantly felt a potent creative chemistry, striking up a collaboration that endures to this day. Halfway through her sophomore year, Moore dropped out of Belmont and moved to L.A. on her own—then found herself frightfully adrift when the pandemic hit just two months later. “Any opportunity I’d had to play shows or put a project together fell apart so fast,” she says. “Like so many other people, everything I’d been working toward was swept out from under my feet.” Determined to move forward, Moore immersed herself in writing and refining her vision for her debut project, and eventually began sharing her songs on TikTok. Within the very first week of posting her original material, she’d amassed over 100,000 followers drawn to her unaffected yet magnetic presence and fearlessly honest perspective—a turn of events that ultimately led to her signing with Capitol Records in fall 2021”.
Before moving to some more recent interviews, I am going to get to the CLASH interview. Her amazing E.P., he’s just not that into you!, was released last July and is a remarkable listen. For anyone who has not heard of Amelia Moore then I would advise you to start there:
“A force on fire setting the industry ablaze, Amelia Moore has made it her business to claim her rightful reign.
Marrying indie pop and R&B, Moore’s glass-shattering vocals combined with soul-centered songwriting have lent to an infectious catalog that tells every girl who has been brave enough to pursue love’s story. Her instrumentals are as colourful as her hair neon orange hair, a blaring outside concealing a decadent inside. “see through,” the breakthrough single off her 2024 ‘he’s just not that into you!’ EP, has earned her nearly four million streams on Spotify alone, recruiting new and pleasantly surprised fans from every corner of every genre.
CLASH caught up with the songwriter following her electrifying Camp Flog Gnaw set to explore her journey from a homeschooled, conservative upbringing in Georgia to becoming R&B’s most promising.
Who were you listening to growing up that really informed the way that you relate to R&B right now?
It’s actually so funny because I grew up so sheltered, literally homeschooled and conservative. I wasn’t listening to any dope R&B or pop artists at all growing up. I remember Justin Timberlake’s ’20/20 Experience’ album being the first secular album my mom played. I’ve had to do a lot of learning and teaching myself since I moved away from home. But early on, Justin Bieber was a really big one for me. ‘Journals’, oh my god. I love the ‘Changes’ album too. I’ve always been an Ari girl, a Mariah girl, an Usher girl.
Being that you had to discover so much music on your own time, do you feel like you’re playing catching up now?
For sure. I’m trying to think of somebody new. I mean, I definitely wasn’t early to the Chappell Roan shit at all. But once I found the album, I was like, “Oh, duh. Duh. For sure. Where have I been?” I love her so much. She’s so cool.
Speaking to reinventing yourself outside of a confined upbringing, how was the emotional process moving from Georgia to Los Angeles?
I feel like I’m just now finding my footing. Like I have a foundation here. It was really crazy, though. And thank god I had a little stepping stone in between Atlanta and here. I went to Belmont for, like, a year and a half in Nashville. That was also a culture shock. I was in class with people who were hitting their vape and drinking, and I genuinely did not think that people did that stuff. So that made it easier than coming to LA right way. I just have really good people around me who have really good heads on their shoulders, and thank God I didn’t get caught up in any nonsense.
Within that, does faith still play a role in your life or did you have to redefine your relationship to it?
Kind of, but definitely not as much as it used to, because of the crazy people that I grew up around. They really ruined the God shit for me, which is so unfortunate. I do still think about it often, and I think eventually I’ll come back around to it, because it was such a big part of growing up and it shaped me a lot. But as of right now, I’m just on a vibe. I’m thankful for being here, and when people ask me why I have an R&B sound and I didn’t listen to R&B growing up, I literally say “It’s God.”
Your spirit was supposed to be doing what you’re doing. You’re an authentic expression of true self, musically and physically. When you went orange, what happened emotionally? What happened physiologically?
I was obsessed immediately. It just felt so right. I remember FaceTiming my mom and her seeing it and starting to cry. She hated it at first but she’s obsessed now. I don’t know why I chose orange. Before I dyed my hair, it was, like, the only colour that I was wearing. I was wearing all orange all the time, it was so tacky and gaudy. Looking back, it was, like, not very cute at all. Then I was like, “Oh, my hair is orange now. I don’t have to revolve my wardrobe around this one colour.” I was walking around looking like Vector from Despicable Me.
The crossover makes so much sense. He’s produced some of the most iconic R&B records of all time and you’re giving the genre such a breath of fresh air while maintaining its roots, which is truly just storytelling love and heartbreak. As someone so blatantly honest in their work, is it more difficult write songs about things that haven’t happened versus telling your own stories?
Every song that I’ve ever put out is autobiographical. I definitely find it harder to make up a story. I love feeling connected to my songs, every single word, every single lyric. If I’m crying in the studio on my birthday, that’s a lyric in “love me or leave me alone,” like, that literally is happening. I love writing for other artists and helping them tell their stories too, but for my music, it’s me. It’s my life. It’s my truth. Everything is real.
What’s next for Amelia Moore? Are you working on anything or are you just basking?
It’s been very exciting to see ‘see through’ get some love, because I love that song so much. I think it’s the coolest one on there, so for people to be hearing it and fucking with it, it’s really exciting. I’m working on a little Part 2 for ‘he’s just not that into you’! I’m trying to get a remix out before the year’s over. I’m assembling some really dope girls that I’m all fans of. Hopefully, getting on another tour soon. I have all the ideas for my first album and I’m ready to start writing that also.
I feel like there’s so much weight on a debut. Are you going into it excited, or are you carrying that burden?
I think a little bit of both. Because I want it to be as intentional as some of my favourite albums are, from the cover art to the live show to the rollout. I really wanna take my time with it because I want it to be great, but I have all the ideas. I’m just excited to execute them.
I think it’s gonna it’s gonna come together so naturally, you’ve already built such a solid foundation for yourself and people are rocking with you. Last but not least, being that this is the 10 year anniversary for Camp Flog Gnaw, what’s your favorite Tyler era?
Oh my god. Well, I think the one we’re in now is definitely his most iconic. I’m so happy that an album from a rapper this vulnerable is as big as it is. That’s so important to me. So either this one or ‘Igor’”.
I am going to end with another interview but I will get to one now from Women in Pop from last month. They spoke to Amelia Moore about her latest single, fuck, marry, kill. Ahead of the release of her new mixtape, he’s still just not that into you! That was released on 9th May, and I would advise anyone new to Amelia Moore to check it out. I am publishing this feature the day before its release, so I will be listening to it from tomorrow. I am new to her music but can fully understand why there has been so much interest around her. A truly original artist:
“She has since signed with major label Republic and last month released the new single ‘fuck, marry, kill’. A gentle, swaying song that has an almost dreamy, soul sound with an at times jaw droppingly impressive vocal performance from Moore. Like much of her music, it explores the torments and joys of relationships and love as her partner drives her to distraction but she can’t stop loving them: ‘You ruin my life / But still give me butterflies…I wanna fuck, marry, kill you / All at the same damn time.’
“I knew I had to make my own unique story,” Moore says. “Singing funny, specific, modern lyrics over a song that feels classic and beautiful is something I had never done before.”
The song is the first taste from her upcoming new mixtape, he’s still just not that into you! which will be released on 9 May and features a song written with one of Moore’s heroes, Julia Michaels. Moore will play a number of headline shows across the US and Europe to launch the mixtape, tickets on sale now
“It’s bouncy, fun, lighthearted, vulnerable, and funny,” she says of her new music. “Songwriting has always been a safe space for me to say anything and everything I need to get off of my chest. The more specific and vulnerable I am, the more my fans relate to my songs. I’m excited for this new era.”
With her songs attracting streams in the millions, Moore is quickly becoming one of music’s hottest rising stars. Her music is connective, warm, vulnerable, sometimes confronting but always an immersive experience. Now is the right time to introduce yourself to her discography, and we recently sat down with her to chat all about her career.
Hi, Amelia, thank you for your time. I want to jump straight in and talk about your beginnings in music. You were raised in theatre, tell me about that.
Yeah, I love theatre so much still, I thought I was going to be a Broadway girl when I was a lot younger. I fell in love with performing when I was around 11, I was Annie in my church's production of Annie, and in that moment, I was like, ‘This is it. I'm gonna grow up and move to New York and be a Broadway star’. I was in a couple of different theatre production companies, but I didn't really understand what it meant to be an artist, and over time f started asking myself questions: I could continue to do plays and be on stage and be somebody else and sing someone else's songs, or I could be on stage and be myself and write my own stuff. That's how I steered away from theatre and into figuring out what an artist was. But theatre will always be my first love for performing.
I think that's lovely. As a songwriter, how do you feel playing those roles and singing other people's songs and really completely embodying them has complimented or informed the way you write?
I think a lot of the songwriting that I do, and that I enjoy the most from my favourite artists, are the super conversational storytelling type of songs that you would see in a musical. One of the things I love, I think my favourite thing actually, about musicals still today is that when a character is singing a song, it's either pushing the story forward or you're learning something about the character and that's something that I like to keep in mind in my songwriting. I feel like that is one of the main things that has informed what I do now. But now with the music that I'm making for a future project I am playing a lot with the background vocals kind of being in the third person, talking about me in the third person, which I think is really fun. I'm trying to watch more musicals and go see more plays now to get more inspiration.
You’ve got this very beautiful old R&B vibe, but with your signature, high drama vocals. There's something equally theatrical in the way that you're writing these lyrics and in your voice. Who were your vocal sheroes growing up?
It's crazy, because I grew up really home schooled and sheltered and wasn't really allowed to listen to that much secular music as a kid. I really don't know where it came from. At a young age, maybe it was the theatre. I was listening to a lot of big and dramatic vocals in the plays that I was a part of, but I really started to find my own taste and inspiration when I was a teenager. Ariana Grande has been a really big vocal inspiration for me for forever, and now I look up to artists like her and Raye, Victoria Monét, Jazmine Sullivan. My favourite singers are R&B singers. So it's always important to show off my vocal any chance that I can get! When we're writing a song, I'm always thinking about how I can show off and give a little wink to all of my favourite singers.
Your music sits in this beautiful sphere of something that's very familiar and then something that's very unfamiliar. Possibly the bit that's unfamiliar is the delivery and the edge and the sharpness when it's paired with this kind of cushion of sound. If you could sum up, what your writing style and the kind of music you want to create, is that what it is? The softness in the edge?
One of my favourite songwriters ever, my musical icon since I was 15, is Julia Michaels, and I've been lucky enough to work with her recently, and we have a song that we've written together that's coming out very soon. She really shaped me into a style of songwriter that is really conversational and honest. One of the questions I find myself asking when I'm stuck on a line is, how would I just say this in a conversation with somebody? How would I just say this in a sentence? And nine times out of ten, that is how the line needs to be delivered. So I think my songwriting is a combination of what I feel is most conversational and what you would say in a sentence, with a challenging melody or riff that I can show off a little bit like I was saying before. ‘fuck, marry, kill’ is a great example of that, and also a song like ‘see through’ that I had on my last project last year. A little conversational with a little drama. I like the drama word we've been saying today!
Is there one favourite lyric that is the most conversational thing you’ve written and just hammers every time you hear it?
There's a bunch of lyrics in this song ‘easy’ that came out last year on my last project. I can't even believe that I am saying this type of stuff on my songs, knowing that my parents listen to them. I think it's so iconic. It’s ‘First time was a doozy, bleeding on the duvet / I was freaking out, thought you'd be freaking out / But we just pulled the sheets off, put a towel down / You know how to woo me / You know how to woo, okay / You know how to, okay’
It's just a thought process, I'm thinking through what happened. Oh, my goodness, it actually happened. Wow. There’s a sense of humour in my lyrics, too, which is something that I really enjoy. My first project, teaching a robot to love, was so heavy and emotional, and I was going through a lot of big emotions and heartbreak at the time, but recently, I've been so excited about the music that has came out this past year, and what I'm about to get ready to roll out, because it's so much more light hearted and not taken as seriously. I think that is so much more of a reflection of what my personality is actually like. I'm excited for my fans to continue to get to know me through lyrics like that”.
I am going to end with this interview that was published earlier this month. By the time you read this, Amelia Moore’s mixtape will be out and gathering acclaim and praise. If you do not know this artist or are quite new then I would encourage you to listen to her. Such a promising talent that is going to be moving her way through the industry. Her music sounds like nobody else’s. It has captivated so many fans already:
“If there’s a mission statement to this new Amelia Moore era, it’s “fuck, marry, kill,” the EP’s lead single and viral lightning bolt of a track that dropped in March. Set to lush vintage R&B instrumentals, the song builds to a deranged-yet-relatable chorus: *“I wanna fuck, marry, kill you / All at the same damn time.”* It’s the kind of hook that begs to be screamed at a festival. Which is convenient, since Moore’s festival bookings are stacking up fast.
Another major highlight of her upcoming project? A feature from none other than Teezo Touchdown on the woozy, genre-bending track “spelling bee.” The song is quirky, hypnotic, and full of that bedroom pop realness, and Teezo’s verse fits perfectly in the chaos. “Teezo was on my dream list,” Moore says. “He gets it. The humor, the drama, the sexiness — he makes things feel larger than life, and that’s exactly what this song needed.”
“spelling bee” plays like a twisted love letter and a playground taunt at the same time. packed with clever wordplay, swoony melodies, and just enough weirdness to make it unmistakably Moore. It’s also a sign that she’s no longer just a rising voice in alt-pop; she’s becoming a magnet for some of the most creative collaborators in the scene.
Raised in Georgia and now based in LA, Moore’s musical background blends classical training, church choir discipline, and full-throttle musical theater energy. That dramatic sensibility shows up in her music, not just in the production, but in the perspective shifts and inner-monologue background vocals that have become a signature of hers. She doesn’t just sing her songs; she stages them.
Her lyrics are diary-level specific – unafraid to reference towels on the bed, breakdowns in grocery store parking lots, or, famously, the mortifying details of her first time in the track “easy.” It’s no wonder she caught the attention of Julia Michaels, the pop songwriting powerhouse behind hits for Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. The two collaborated on tracks for the new EP – a full-circle moment for Moore, who credits Michaels with shaping her own confessional, conversational lyricism. “Julia was the blueprint for me,” she says. “Working with her didn’t just elevate my writing. It gave me the confidence to be even weirder, even more me.”
She made her Camp Flog Gnaw debut in 2024, delivering a set that was as explosive as it was theatrical. “It was my ‘holy shit, this is real’ moment,” she says. “I had girls in the front row sobbing, laughing, shouting the lyrics ,it was everything I ever wanted.” Now, she’s slated for Outside Lands 2025, where she’s expecting a bigger stage, louder crowd, and, in her words – “even more girlies ready to cry, flirt, and yell.”
Despite her “he’s still just not that into you mixtape release shows” late this month at Los Angeles’ The Echo on May 27 and New York’s Baby’s All Right on May 29, Moore still describes herself as in the “pre-ascension phase” — a moment where the fanbase is cult-like, the growth is organic, and every show feels like a celebration of survival. But with this new project, she’s stepping into the spotlight like she was born for it.
She’s not trying to be TikTok’s next sad girl, she’s carving out something entirely her own: a self-aware, high-drama, hook-laced universe where heartbreak is both the wound and the weapon. “I’ve always had a lot of feelings,” she says. “This time, I’m just having more fun showing them”.
Go and check out Amelia Moore. She is someone I am going to follow for years as I know she will be a massive success story. What she has put out so far is phenomenal. Even if many consider her a rising artist at the moment, it will not be too long before she is…
A major name.
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