Track By Track: Georgia Mooney on Her Solo Debut 'Full of Moon'

Georgia Mooney has released her debut solo album, Full of Moon. The Gadigal land-based songwriter is best known as a member of All Our Exes Live In Texas, but a solo debut has been in the works for several years. Mooney co-produced the album with Noah Georgeson, whose past credits include Cate Le Bon and Marlon Williams.

In the course of the album’s ten songs, Mooney reflects on her sustained wanderlust, remembers a short-lived affair with a Greek painter, and imagines a world freed from patriarchy. Throughout, her objectives were clear – to create an album that would “make people feel good, feel connected and feel transported.”

Georgia Mooney: Full of Moon

1. War Romance

Georgia Mooney: ‘War Romance’ emerged from a feeling of despair at the state of the world. I’ve always loved wartime films for the way they portray romantic relationships, enhanced of course by the magic of period costume and Hollywood soundtracks.

When life is fragile and we are faced with our mortality, we cling to one another for comfort. Superficial problems fall away and the bonds of love feel extraordinarily strong and vital. This song is melodramatically and theatrically calling for a lover to spend the end of the world with.

2. I Am Not In A Hurry

Georgia: This song was inspired by the sentiment of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Cactus Tree’ – a story of a woman who is unable to be pinned down. I have always felt a physical and emotional wanderlust. At times it is an asset that encourages ongoing adventure and discovery, at times it disconnects you from people. It can give the impression of dissatisfaction, but for me it stems from a deep love of people and an unending desire to see and know more.

3. Break It Off

Georgia: ‘Break It Off’ is about being powerless to somebody’s charms – when a relationship is bad for you, but the infatuation is overwhelming. When you’re not receiving enough in return, there is a desperation that the person will have a miraculous epiphany and realise they’re actually madly in love. There is an inability to let go of that hope, to the extent that the only option is to be dumped ruthlessly.

‘Break It Off’ is all of that, soundtracked by luscious, melodramatic, Rufus Wainwright and ABBA-esque whimsy. And of course, a middle-eight mention of my celebrity dream husband to whom all men are compared.

4. Consider It A Gift

Georgia: This piano part was rolling around in my head for a few years, labelled on an iPhone recording as “Frenchy waltz”. It sounded pretty and Parisian and like it could have come from a 1930s musical. In this song, the instrumentation is beautiful and romantic, whereas the lyrics sting with a confession that is confronting and pointed.

This was the first song Rob Moose composed strings for and I am completely in love with his arrangement. The song is told from the perspective of the “other woman,” who is at once bearing all, humiliated, and spiteful.

5. What An Inconvenience

Georgia: This might be the folkiest of the songs. The dulcimer strums serenely while the acoustic guitar weaves in and around it. I was inspired by the playing of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, whose voices and instruments seem to dance and blend so closely they sound like one.

The song is about a relationship that is mysteriously secret, perhaps forbidden. It begins as an ode to the magic of the first connections between people and a tribute to how powerful those moments are, even if short-lived. The strings represent the bittersweetness, moving and lingering with the tension between love and longing.

6. Some Of Us

Georgia: This song is about the sort of person who seems to coast through life down a boulevard of green lights. It speaks to how the social media age confuses our perception of reality and fosters insecurity.

‘Some Of Us’ is inspired by ‘The Logical Song’ by Supertramp. The instrumentation is full of rhythmic and melodic surprises. It’s rich in colour and somehow combines a slick seductiveness with an almost jauntiness.

Layers and atmospheres float in and out, like looking around a carnival and taking in the sights one at a time. The bridge bursts in like a light through the clouds, layered in harmony. The elements feel like they won’t fit together yet somehow do.

7. Winter Island

Georgia: A few years ago I went on a solo adventure to the Greek Island, Skopelos. I wanted to escape somewhere beautiful to write songs, so I booked a little cottage by the Aegean Sea for three weeks. It was the middle of winter and I was the only tourist on the island.

One night, a local friend invited me to join her art class. The teacher was an accomplished Greek painter. The whole class was in Greek but I loved it. A couple of days later I found myself sitting for a portrait by said painter. And a few days after that we were getting pretend married in a tiny white church in the forest. That was the last time I saw him. It seemed worthy of a song.

8. Nothing Is Forever

Georgia: This song was written during #MeToo in a moment of celebration at the momentum and power of the movement. It was a galvanising time for women, and it felt like the beginning of a genuine social revolution. Obviously, there is heartbreak amongst it all, and still so much work to be done, but I think overwhelmingly it will go down in history as an important turning point.

The music in this song carries a lot of the feeling for me. The tumbling drums, the trumpets, and the lush open chords that move and swell. It takes off like a train and keeps going. Nothing is forever, not even the patriarchy.

9. What’ll I Do

Georgia: Sometimes, out of the blue, you fall in love with someone who has already fallen in love with someone else. This song was inspired by the Irving Berlin song of the same name.

10. Soothe You

Georgia: ‘Soothe You’ came all at once in the depths of the pandemic. With unrelenting sadness enveloping the world, and the shock of how suddenly everything had turned upside down, I had a longing to write a lullaby of sorts.

There was a sense of everything having been stripped away, to the point where all we had were our bodies and our resourcefulness. Like all of us, I kept thinking of how desperately I wanted to protect the people I love. With music, I only ever want to make people feel good, feel connected and feel transported. ‘Soothe You’ weeps with you and holds you close.