Zoe Moon – In Person: New Song Of The Day

Zoe Moon is better off In Person. We think one listen to her brand new single and you’ll agree.

Here’s the record company blurb with details:

Zoe Moon is better off “In Person”.

With her new liberating and playful single, this budding Artist/Producer/Powerhouse brings to us a fantastic fusion of Hip Hop, Pop, and R&B, positively stacked with her trademark Vocal Kung Fu. Inspired by 90’s Hip Hop & video game nostalgia, Zoe lets her guard down in an all-too-relatable song depicting her struggle “translating” her true self in this digital age.

Zoe says, “The heart of this track is the voice, the drums and the bass. I was curious just how high or low I could go, testing the scope of my range in the mammoth stacks of harmonies and vocal Kung Fu. I had fun channeling my Barbershop Choir kid days. It’s funny ‘coz I played “In Person” live with my beautiful band a healthy amount before I got the opportunity to record it, so it’s grown so much!

“In Person” is an expression of self love, a celebration of identity conveying the craving for up-close and personal human connection – a feeling all too familiar in recent years. Zoe says, “My Blackness, my cultural identity, my personality, is better understood ‘up close and personal’ rather than through a lens often tinted with the reductive tropes of tokenisms and schisms of mainstream TV. So in this song and video I let go of all of that, I peel back the layers and let myself be me, unapologetically. I’m really excited and proud to share my true joy!”

“In Person” is just the uplifting anthem we need to unleash our true joy this summer.

“In Person” is Zoe Moon’s first release since 2020, the first single of several that herald the upcoming album With Love, Miss Moon, dropping in 2023.

About the video:

Zoe has always known she wanted to shoot a music video at Clifton Carpark in Wellington, and “In Person” was the perfect video for the location. She noted the echoes of the cars on the motorway above, the cable car, those striking pillars when she lived nearby for 2 years whilst working towards rebuilding her music career in Aotearoa and writing for her upcoming releases.

The video is a love letter to the 90’s Hip Hop and video game nostalgia that plays a huge role in the artist and person Zoe is today. Zoe also lived in Aro valley “when I was young wanna be B-girl, so we shot some of the video there to infuse that 90’s Hip Hop flare. I actually hunted high and low for whoever did the graffiti but couldn’t find them. I wanted a world of colour and that intercity concrete jungle goodness.”

Co-directed, co-produced and edited by DOP Paascalino Schaller of Little Universe Productions, whom Zoe has worked with on ‘Sister’ with Deva Mahal. Dana Leeming was the AD and producer for the video. And about the wardrobe, Zoe says “Styling and crafting the outfits with my partner in fashion, Beth Tibbo, was like a hybrid mind dream! Especially since we both seem to own an unnatural amount of denim.”

In Person – Lyrics

I am better off in person
Better off not worst than
I’m better off, better off
Face to face
better off in person
Better off not worst than
I’m better off, I’m better off
Face to face

Look at me
I see you, and your expectations too woo
hoo yeah
Didn’t say that quite right
No you don’t understand
Why can’t we work it out?
This ain’t at all like I planned nah
Like when I pixelate
I’m waking up too late to find that I don’t
quite translate
I’m better off in person

Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah I’m
Oh yeah I’m better now
Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah I
Am doing much better in person

Hey baby! Now I got your attention
I’m working on the courage to mention
Me, I’m a particular make
And I don’t always pixelate well
Everybody’s character ain’t mainstream
Black America
Oh if you really wanna know this girl

Huh hmm
Well she tellin’ you to listen uh huh
Get close to me, get close to me get close
now
Ooof
Oh common do it again like
Yeah, common, woo
Get close to me, get close to me, much
closer baby
Aaaah alright

Do you see what I see
Do you hear what I hear
Do you know what I know
Do you feel, how I feel, how can ya if you’re
Nowhere near to me
Uh huh ow ho

Common common common in person
I take it personal
I wanna see you baby
Welcome you to my dance space
I’m so much better

Hey
I take it personal
I wanna see you baby
Welcome you to my dance space
I’m so much better
Face to face

So get close to me, get close to me, get
close to me get close now
Woo
Get close to me, get close to me, get close
to me, get closer baby

Do you see what I see?
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you know what I know?
Do you feel how I feel? How can ya if you’re
nowhere near to me

Oh common, common, common, in person
Take it personal, I wanna see you baby
I’d like to welcome you to my dance space
Coz I’m so much better
Face to face
Said I
Yes I am…
I’m better in person

Special thanks to…

my family, friends and band for the continued support through one of the most difficult but transformative years of my life. Thank you to NZ On Air for funding me and helping make all of this possible. A very special thank you to James Goldsmith for pouring your heart and soul into this single, and for being my friend.

And finally, to the boy I struggled to relate to via txt or digital medium… Thank you for the soul crushing awkwardness that helped me write this song. We were “better off in person”. 

With Love 💙

Miss Moon 🌙

In Person Recording Credits 

Written, composed & produced by Zoe Moon Mahal

Mixed, engineered & additional production by James Goldsmith

Mastered by Will Borza at Borza Mastering

Recorded at The Surgery Newtown

——

Zoe Moon Mahal      | Writer, Composer & Producer

James Goldsmith     | Engineer & Mixing

Will Borza               | Mastering

Players:

Zoe Moon Mahal              | Lead vocals & harmonies

Darren Mathiassen           | Drums & percussion

Marika Hodgson               | Bass

Jules Blewman                 | Guitar

King HomeBoy                 | Beatboxing

Louis Thompson-Munn     | Organ

James Goldsmith              | Piano

Louisa Williamson             | Alto saxophone

Jack Harré                       | Trumpet

Gareth Thompson-Darling | Trombone & turntables

Z o E  M o o N  I   Bio 

Zoe Moon (Mahal) is an Artist with a wealth of songs bursting from her soul. Hawaiian born, Aotearoa bred: this Pōneke-based music progeny, weaves a world of influences into an undulating dance between strength and softness. With a voice that effortlessly glides from resonant low notes to angelic upper registers, and an uncanny knack for distilling honesty in her lyrics, Zoe’s music is an unbridled and eclectic blend that she calls ‘Folk R&B’ and delivers with conviction.

2021 marked the unveiling of her debut solo single ‘Bubbles’, released with Blue Riot Records. Followed by the heart-breaking duet ‘Sister’, which she produced and co-wrote with her real-life big sister Deva Mahal. Having performed and collaborated with the likes of Keb Mo & Taj Mahal (on the Grammy award winning Tajmo tour), The California Honey Drops, (more recently) Tami Nielson, Estère, Olmecha Supreme, and having been an integral member of Wellignton’s beloved supergroup Brockaflower, Zoe has honed her skills throughout Aotearoa and across the globe – bending and mending many a mind with her thrilling and deeply rooted artistry.

What is ‘Folk RnB’?… Besides an excuse to follow her creative bliss, ‘Folk’ speaks to her musical lineage, her fascination with grounding complex arrangements in unassuming acoustic instruments like the ukulele, as well as a recognition of the Black American storytellers and folk culture that came before her. ‘RnB’ speaks to the unique sonic kit Zoe pulls from, where elements of Hip Hop, Gospel, Blues, Jazz and Soul can be found.

Truth seeking with an insightful sense of lyricism, Zoe’s songs explore the interpersonal nuances of identity, life and self-love with a seasoned ear and an open heart. No longer apologizing for who she is, where she’s from or what she has to say, Miss Moon is strengthened in her resolve as a proud Black Kiwi-American woman on the rise and certainly an artist once witnessed, always remembered.

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