Mandy Moore’s seventh effort overall and first new album in 10 years, Silver Landings is a reference to a lyric on the album’s titular last song: “Reaching for golden ribbons up in the air/But I’m looking for silver landings.” The title track was the last song Moore wrote for the album and became emblematic of the journey she’s been through in the past decade, what it took to get to the point of re-embracing this part of her life, and the expectations therein. Moore recorded Silver Landings live to tape with a full band in one studio in Los Angeles. A purposeful departure from the more tightly structured pop of her previous material, the album was produced by long-time collaborator Mike Viola and prominently features her husband Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) as well as Jason Boesel, formerly of Rilo Kiley.

As a result of that more organic production approach, songs like “When I Wasn’t Watching” and “I’d Rather Lose,” embody a bright vitality rooted in traditional Californian ’70s rock that wholly fulfills Moore’s initial vision for the album. “I wanted to make a very California-sounding record – something that feels sunshiny and airy and natural, something you could listen to driving up and down the PCH with all the windows rolled down on a beautiful weekend day,” she notes. Critics have already hailed the album as “folkie rock pop, building on a lineage running from Fleetwood Mac to Haim” (The Atlantic), “sway(ing) with Steve Nick’s energy” (NPR) and “honest and deeply introspective” (American Songwriter).