Betty Moon
Strangely Beautiful
Evolver Music
Los Angeles singer-songwriter/producer Betty Moon is back with Strangely Beautiful, a six-track EP that arrives like a neon postcard from the ‘90s, when rock, soul, and electro-pop never stopped merging their distinctive textures. It’s her first new release since 2021’s Cosmicoma and reminds listeners of who Moon is and all that she’s contributed to music. Her musical instinct is sharper than ever.
Moon shares, “Making Strangely Beautiful was really about trusting myself again and not waiting around for permission. I’ve been doing this long enough to know when something feels right, and this record came together in a way that felt really instinctive and honest. There’s confidence in these songs, but also a lot of vulnerability, which is something I’ve learned not to shy away from. I’m always evolving, always experimenting, but at the core it’s still about creating something real that people can connect with, whatever that means to them.”
Moon has done it all: signed with a major label (A&M), then forged her own path with Evolver Music, releasing 10 albums and, because it didn’t sound like musical wallpaper, having her music featured on shows like Californication, Dexter, and The Walking Dead.
The EP’s blend — rock edges, soul inflections, electro-pop sheen — works because it’s based on mood rather than simply merging various sonic surfaces. Strangely Beautiful is more intelligent and more incisive than the derivative, vanilla-flavored pablum the labels continue to peddle.
Entry points on the EP include the gorgeous, piano-driven melody of “Last Night,” with its almost classical flow. Amid gently swaying strings, Moon’s crystalline vocals evoke sensations of nostalgic wistfulness and unfailing love of grand intensity.
Drenched in dark, sensuous, alt-pop colors, “A Taxi Ride” travels on a funk-lite rhythm topped by Moon’s delicious voice, at once raw and voluptuous and beckoning.
The only cover on the EP, Portugal. The Man’s “Live in the Moment,” reveals a lot about the intent of the EP: live in the now, even if the now is messy, chaotic, and confusing. The rumbling, crunchy cadence of this track makes it work. A brief, shimmering interlude drifts in like a hallucinogenic mist, dispersing the track’s grit into something airy and oddly calming.
Perhaps the best track on the EP, “Want Me To” ties it off with ‘90s electro-pop brilliance — fluctuating harmonics, synths fashioning long shadows, all highlighted by the wickedly haunting voice of Moon as she envelops listeners in hypnotic timbres.
On Strangely Beautiful, Betty Moon reconfigures her ‘90s alt-pop sound with modern edges, imbuing it with elements both recognizable yet entirely new and different.
