Moons Poet releases new album

Hailing from Geelong in Australia, Carly O’Dwyer has been walking a unique artistic path paved by adventurous musical exploration that eschews any commercial pursuit. Recording under the name Moons Poet, the independent singer-songwriter has built a project based on candid songwriting, experimentation and complete artistic freedom, crafting songs from the spare room of her home where emotion and her own creative compass guide every decision.

In her musical output, she embraces imperfections, allowing her music to develop naturally into something highly personal and truly captivating. That steadfast DIY ethos sits at the very heart of Moons Poet, where every release is shaped without compromise, favouring originality and emotional truth over calculated formulas. Inspired by artists including Mazzy Star, PJ Harvey and Joni Mitchell, Carly has developed a sound that forms in the overlap between indie folk, dreamlike ambience and experimental songwriting. Acoustic warmth is never far away but her music also leans into expansive textures, where stacks of delay and reverb become as expressive and important as the instruments themselves.

Technology plays an unexpectedly intimate role throughout her work; it becomes another creative voice within the arrangements, surrounding her songs with shimmering echoes and spacious atmospheres. It’s music that feels at once handcrafted and cinematic, balancing delicate songwriting with moments of immense sonic scale, resulting in a sonic offering that reflects the world she inhabits, where traditional songwriting and modern production coalesce in spectacular fashion.

Moons Poet represents a creative mindset that allows Carly to follow ideas wherever they lead, unrestricted by genre or outside direction. Her songs often leave room for interpretation, encouraging listeners to find their own meaning within stories of love, healing and determination. That context continues across her latest release titled Underground Potato, a six-track record that perfectly distils everything Moons Poet stands for.

The album’s title immediately captures attention through its playful originality but beneath the humour simmer a thoughtful metaphor, with Carly likening discovering independent music to digging beneath the surface in search of something worthwhile, much like uncovering potatoes hidden beneath the soil. The project explores a vast emotional spectrum, touching on subjects including mental health, global politics, love and personal healing and by avoiding a separation of the intimate from the relatable, Underground Potato allows these ideas to sit alongside one another, recognising how personal wellbeing and the wider world inevitably intersect.

“Firehorse” opens the album with a song that frames the album’s themes of renewal and transformation, taking inspiration from the symbolism of the Year of the Firehorse. Brought in by drifting instrumental textures, Carly’s tender vocalisations stretch out above to cast a mesmeric and thoroughly transportive soundscape that flows with delicate melodies and dreamy atmosphere, offering the perfect showcase of her experimental style. “Ghost at the Gate” follows with hazy tones before ethereal vocal lines float in to drape expressive melodic strands over the hypnotic arrangement.

On “Magical Heart,” the soft strums of acoustic guitar add a gentle energy as alluring melodic lines flutter above via Carly’s recognisable, quivering delivery, offering another engaging display of her ability to create highly unique music that’s still accessible. “Floating” pairs graceful piano backing and enticing vocals which dance atop the soothing instrumental fabric to offer an intricate and subtly engrossing listening experience.

“State of the World” continues with elegant piano notes as Carly’s stunning vocals softly rise and fall to offer a memorable and blissfully melodic musical moment. The record closes with “In the End,” which arrives with airy guitar tones and gliding vocal elements, gradually expanding with the swell of haunting melodic leads to deliver a spellbinding finale to Moons Poet’s stellar new release. With this latest work, Carly O’Dwyer continues to show that artistic freedom remains one of independent music’s greatest strengths and through Moons Poet, she’s created a space where experimentation and imagination can produce music that feels timeless precisely because it creates something unlike anything else.

Listen to Underground Potato below