Mandy Moore on Being 'Embarrassed' By Her Early Music & How She's Embraced It

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It’s been 20 years since Mandy Moore first became a household name. She signed with Epic Records in 1999 and later released her debut single, “Candy” which was an instant hit. While it was an exciting time for the then 15-year-old, the singer spent a lengthy period of time feeling “embarrassed” by her career choices — and now, with the release of her new album, Silver Landings, she’s getting more candid than ever about her journey.

“I think I really apologized for a lot about my early work because I was embarrassed and being a teenager, not having creative control and not fully standing behind some of the choices that were made on my behalf,” she told Us Weekly, adding that while she doesn’t want to “disparage anybody’s musical choices,” she’s happy to distance herself from her previous work.

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But while she’s much happier having the creative freedom on her latest album — which is her first piece of musical work in over a decade — she’s aware that her earlier years are what gave her a platform to make music in the first place. “The only reason that I’m here today, 20 years later, is because of 15-year-old Mandy and the music that she was singing and how I started out,” she shared. “I love her. She’s a part of me and always will be and I carry her around. It’s important to acknowledge that and have affection for that time of my life.”

Now, with being able to make her own choices, Mandy admittedly had “fun” making her newest album. The This Is Us star teamed up with husband Taylor Goldsmith and best friend Mike Viola to write and produce Silver Landings — a decision that took quite some time to come to. “I was really hesitant and confused about how to find my way back into music,” she shared. “Being able to work with them and know that I was sort of safe to be wading back into the musical waters was the perfect way to kind of step back into this chapter of my life.”

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