It was 1999 when Mandy Moore released her first single ‘Candy’ and immediate comparisons were made to the other stable of teenage female pop stars of the late 90s, the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera for example.

However, her career since then has been very diverse, moving to acting, but never leaving singing and performing behind either. She is undoubtedly a hugely talented lady, and still only 35, you feel that she’s going to give us huge amounts of entertainment for many years to come. 

Some smooth guitarwork starts this new song, with the instruction of a country guitar and a light bit of percussion, starting as a soft ballad that allows for Mandy Moore to tell her story through the lyrics. With building overdubbed harmonies the melody flows wonderfully to the stripped back mix to allow for what has to be a story of her adolescence and finding fame at a very young age. There’s a break in the middle of Fifteen, when the rhythm patterns change and a distinctive riff with strings and synths breaks the feel of the song before the vocals come back in, with some ironic lyrics. One favorite of mine has to be ‘no regrets, with a few exceptions’. Exactly the sentiment most of us have with our lives to date I would imagine, but we do feel that this song is completely honest and overall a positive view of Mandy Moore’s career. It is beautifully crafted and has a lot of wonderful twists and lyrics that make it really special. 

They say you should never write a song about yourself as there are a lot of private things that you might not want out in the public, and of course what lyrics are put out there are completely in the control of the artist. But with fifteen you feel that Mandy Moore is truly reliving her journey and this song is a little like therapy for her to understand and appreciate the journey she has been on that has got her to this point in her life. 

 Pop    Singer-songwriter 

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.