…as a treat
[Video]
[6.00]
Julian Axelrod: One of my favorite things about Moore’s last single is its fluidity, the way its ambling verses coiled and exploded into the blood rush catharsis of its hook. “Save a Little for Yourself” pulls the same trick with none of the nuance, abruptly skidding into a flat chorus that feels copy and pasted from another artist’s demo. Switching from wholesome guitar strums to rousing Americana doesn’t subvert either side, it just creates a Frankensnooze.
[5]
Alfred Soto: This has the confident gait of 1997-era Sheryl Crow, the market in which Mandy Moore is most at home these days (when did you think this would happen?). A solid performance and tune, no more.
[6]
Leah Isobel: The lyrics’ faux-inspirational Instagram quotability almost doesn’t work, but the key shift into the chorus and Moore’s lovely vocal – specifically the way she offsets the natural prettiness of her tone with clipped, brash phrasing – implies enough actual stress to sell the serenity. It’s a coffeeshop bop.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: A dusty, washed out guitar and drum heavy mix floats out of the desert, Mandy Moore gently lifting the sandbags with her smooth, sea glass voice pulling the wind into the balloon and raising the whole song into the air and curling underneath the basket.
[6]
Juana Giaimo: I just like warm acoustic songs like this. It doesn’t have the uniqueness of a Kacey Musgraves’ song and the lyrics certainly could be less generic, but Mandy Moore’s sweet voice can cover up those flaws.
[7]
Brad Shoup: A series of kind gestures, well rehearsed: I like the descending piano figure in the chorus, and a little mellotron is always nice. But I appreciate this kindness for its intent, not its effect.
[5]
Alex Clifton: Breezy and full of sunshine and basically a Dawes song with Mandy Moore on lead vocals. That’s not meant as a derogatory review, although I do wish this felt a bit more organically from Moore. Still, I’m delighted to hear Moore return to music knowing that she’s making the music she’s wanted to make for so long, and I’m glad that if any indie guy is going to work with Moore on her music, it’s Taylor Goldsmith and not Ryan Adams.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Oh Amanda, you’ve come home. Sure, this codes a bit more credible, a bit more singer-songwriterly, but the delivery is recognisably the same one that Moore used to elevate her strongest teen-pop ballads (say, “Only Hope” or “I Wanna Be With You”). Only now she’s doing adult contemporary rock ballads, and has aged perfectly in line with her fans me. I recognise her again and that feels very comforting.
[7]