Full Mood
Full Mood, aka the dreamy pop ’n’ rock duo of Miranda McLaughlin and Nick Morelly, have an exceptional knack for sounds that grab your ear immediately and lyrics with edges so sharp that you might not realize it till you’ve run across them already.
In 2021, they released Redsleep, an EP produced by Collin Pastore (whose work you’ve heard with boygenius and many others). It was one of my favorite releases of that year, with finely tuned dramatic flair and an enticing combination of synth and guitar sounds. Now, they’re back with a single called “Ask Me to Dance.”
Lyrically, it’s another fine display of their strengths in navigating the complexities of relationships. McLaughlin dives right into the territory where things can get ugly as we determine what we really want, whether or not it’s achievable — and whether or not we care, as she sings: “It’s getting late / Time to wash off all the hate I painted / On my face / But I will linger.” Sonically, the pair builds on their previous work, exploring new ways to orchestrate, blending in samples and more.
“We incubated ‘Ask Me to Dance’ for longer than some of our previous songs, and we wanted to be very intentional with each textural element,” McLaughlin writes in a note to the Scene. “One of the biggest changes we feel is getting a bit more confident and pushing our ideas to the maximum limit. The demo of this song only started with drums, bass, keyboard, and vocals. We ended up stacking a bunch of synths, strings, and horns on throughout the writing process resulting in a much bigger song.
“Writing this song was really exciting for me! Each time we added a new little flourish, it inspired a brand new idea that we ran with. Chasing down ideas and eventually catching them is the best part of songwriting for me.”
We’re delighted to premiere the track via Soundcloud below. It’s available now on your favorite streaming service, too, so give it a spin and drop it in your queue. Check out the band’s Linktree for some quick streaming access, and follow them on Instagram for more updates.
