On new album and in films, Moore has an edge

Starting over in the music world isn't easy, especially when you're a former pop princess. Mandy Moore was only 15 years old when she was signed to Epic Records in the late '90s, a sweet blond kid who became a mainstay on the covers of glossy magazines and MTV's "TRL." With her sugary hit single "Candy," she drew preteen fans in swarms, performed in arenas , and released three albums of pop tunes. Roles in the films "The Princess Diaries" and "A Walk to Remember," and her own MTV show , soon followed.

But it was a landscape crowded with blond pop princesses -- Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears -- and even then Moore knew she needed to find a way to stand out. "I was always the youngest [of them]," Moore says, "always the underdog. I didn't really know my place. But I also knew at the end of the day we were all going to differentiate ourselves and do our own things."

Simpson took on reality TV. Aguilera went "Back to Basics." And Spears, well, she's Britney.

Moore, too, has found her own way. In 2003, she released "Coverage" -- a collection of cover songs ranging from Elton John's "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" to John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me" -- then took a hiatus from music to focus on her acting career. She began gravitating toward more mature parts. In 2004, she starred in the dark comedy "Saved!" as Hilary Faye, an Evangelical mean girl. A recurring role as herself on the HBO series "Entourage" won her some hipster cred. This summer she'll appear as a woman preparing for marriage in "License to Wed" and alongside Billy Crudup in the edgy romance "Dedication." And for the first time in four years, she has an album of new material, "Wild Hope," which comes out today.

"I feel like the roles are reflective of my age," Moore says. "It all has to make sense with the music I'm doing now too. It's just a tricky road to navigate. I don't want to play a high school kid anymore."

Now 23, her hair a dark shade of brown, Moore is also taking control of her musical choices. She switched labels to Firm Music, which gave her the freedom to choose her own producer. She selected John Alagia , who has worked with Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer.

"I wanted to try to make this a transition for her," Alagia says. "I heard some of her earlier recordings. I wanted to make a record she was really proud of and hopefully have some longevity with this record."

So on "Wild Hope" Moore leaves behind the synthesizer-laden songs about crushes and teenage lust that made up the majority of her pop music career. Instead, she sings what she calls "folky pop" about "mak[ing] love on the floor" (on "Gardenia") and failed relationships (on the aggressive "Nothing That You Are"). (She also hopes to leave behind arenas, she says; a tour of smaller clubs and theaters is in the works.)

The album is a mature musical makeover. Glorious strings soar in harmony on the uplifting title track, as Moore reassures listeners that "everything will be all right." On the opening song and first single, "Extraordinary, " she croons optimistically, "And now I'm ready/ And now I'm ready to be extraordinary." And she strips herself of her good-girl image once and for all on "Nothing That You Are, " singing, "I hope you burn in hell/ Or do I?"

Her manager, Jon Leshay , who's worked with Moore since she was 15, says this album shows where she is today as an artist, and how much she's grown.

"This record, while it may seem like it just kind of came at once, it was a long time in the making -- a culmination of her likes, dislikes, and her ability to be a young woman right now and make decisions for herself and make that record for herself," he says.

Moore says the new album is also notable for its more "organic sound," which is inspired by the music she's currently listening to. She found herself so admiring certain songwriters -- Lori McKenna, Rachael Yamagata, Deb Talan and Steve Tannen of the Weepies, Chantal Kreviazuk -- that she contacted them and got them to collaborate with her on "Wild Hope."

At first the Weepies, a pair of acoustic folk singer -songwriters who met at Club Passim, wondered why Moore was interested in them.

"We knew of Mandy as a solo artist -- she's always in US Weekly and People. She's a very striking celebrity. When she asked us, we were flattered," Tannen says.

"I think we were both kinda nervous writing with anyone else," Talan says. "I had not written with anyone except Steve ."

But after a cup of coffee and a hike with Moore, the duo decided the collaboration would work. It resulted in five harmony-rich songs that appear on "Wild Hope," including the title track and "Extraordinary."

For inspiration, the Weepies turned to Moore, who had gone through a difficult period before recording the album. The result was a journal filled with sketches and writing that served as a blueprint for "Wild Hope."

"I went through a period of feeling low and confused and uncharacteristically blue," Moore says. "I was very concerned about everything. I was going to hunker down and finish writing this record. I just got out of a relationship. It was an amalgamation. It was all these emotions and feelings and it was very cathartic to get it out of my head and get it down on paper."

Call it part of the journey.

"It wasn't right for me to do a record a year ago," Moore says. "It wouldn't have been 'Wild Hope.' It would've been me writing with the same collaborations and the same producer. At the end of day it's not worth it, doing something that my heart's not really behind. Music means way, way too much to me to essentially sell out and make a record that way. I don't want to go in the studio and have the record label tell me to sing stupid songs."