Q&A: Moonchild on Grief, Growth and the Healing Power of WAVES
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF CRAFTING THEIR SIGNATURE BLEND OF SOUL, R&B AND JAZZ - GRAMMY-nominated trio Moonchild enters a new era — one rooted in emotional honesty, collective healing, and creative renewal. Their forthcoming sixth studio album, WAVES (out February 20, 2026), captures the beauty and complexity of transformation: the ebb and flow between grief and growth, the tenderness of self-compassion, and the resilience that comes from embracing vulnerability.
For Amber Navran, Andris Mattson, and Max Bryk, WAVES represents both a sonic evolution and a personal reckoning. Written, produced and arranged entirely by the band, the record expands on their lush, organic instrumentation and introspective lyricism, inviting listeners into an emotional landscape that feels both timeless and deeply of this moment.
Recorded alongside a host of new collaborators, including Jill Scott, Rapsody, and Astyn Turr, WAVES celebrates the magic that happens when artists come together in shared space. After recording their previous album, Starfruit, remotely during the pandemic, this project marks a full-circle return to in-person collaboration and musical community. It’s an album about connection in its purest form: between artists, emotions and the listeners who have grown alongside Moonchild’s journey.
In our conversation with the band, we explore the emotional depth behind WAVES, the healing that shaped its creation and the lessons learned from over a decade of evolution, both as musicians and as people learning, still, to ride life’s waves.
LUNA: “Ride The Wave” came out on World Mental Health Day, a day centered around awareness, empathy, and reflection. Why did you choose to release this song on that date, and what does it represent to you?
AMBER: The song is about grief. Sitting in it, trying to contend with it, learning to love the new version of yourself now that you’ve been through loss, and riding the waves as they come with as much compassion as you can. So, it feels right that it came out on Mental Health Day!
LUNA: Congratulations on announcing your new album WAVES! What does this new era represent for Moonchild both personally and creatively?
AMBER: It’s a continuation of our growth as musicians and a band. We were so excited to do another album with a lot of collaborations and features. It was especially fun this time around because Starfruit was recorded during the COVID lockdown, so we didn’t get to have any studio sessions with people. For this album we got to spend time with a lot of the features in the studio and that felt really special!
LUNA: The first two singles, “Not Sorry” and “Ride The Wave,” both explore self-compassion and emotional honesty. How do they set the tone for what listeners can expect across the rest of the album?
AMBER: It does set the tone! The album is largely about healing, grief, growth, compassion, and letting go of harmful relationships. I was going through a lot of loss and a very hard period of growth as I was writing the lyrics for this album. It’s the first Moonchild album that has a central focus in the lyrics and it feels like it’s right on time.
LUNA: WAVES follows over a decade of evolution in your sound, from Be Free to Starfruit. How do you feel this project builds on that journey while still staying true to Moonchild’s roots?
ANDRIS: Our roots as a band have always been to make music that we want to hear. With this new album we bring new experiences to talk about, new instruments, and new collaborators, but at the core our process is still pretty similar. It feels like a natural evolution for us.
LUNA: You recently joined the ONErpm family. What drew you to this partnership, and how does it align with where you are as artists right now?
ANDRIS: No one can do this music career thing alone. As artists, all you want is to partner with people who believe in your music and believe in their ability to help it succeed. Eddie Blackmon and the ONErpm team from our first meeting have clearly fit that description. It was a no-brainer to partner with them for this album.
LUNA: You’ve always had such a hands-on approach, from writing, producing, and arranging all your own music. How did that creative process evolve on WAVES?
ANDRIS: On WAVES, we still had a very hands-on approach but our process of collaborating felt like an evolution. With a lot of these sessions, we were in the same room as the artist, so naturally there were a lot more hands-off moments. You want to let the artist shine and do their thing and not get too in the way with your opinions.
LUNA: Astyn Turr’s feature feels incredibly intentional — her voice blends so beautifully with Amber’s. How did that collaboration come to be, and what did she bring to the song that surprised or inspired you?
MAX: My first time hearing Astyn was actually on a gig; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Her voice is so special. I knew immediately I wanted to work with her more and once we started talking I found out she’s been a Moonchild fan since high school, which is crazy haha. But yeah, fast forward a few years and Amber and I had written a verse and chorus for “Ride The Wave,” and right away I thought of Astyn for verse two.
She added so much to the song! Amber’s verse is about sitting in grief, accepting it and not pushing it away. In Astyn’s verse she adds, “maybe I’m better off this way” and “I’m working on taking heartbreak as proof that mine still works just the same.” I was once again blown away — her writing voice is as special as her singing voice.
LUNA: After your GRAMMY nomination for Starfruit and a run of sold-out shows across the world, how did you approach this album differently, either musically or emotionally?
MAX: Something new we tried with this album was to sit down together at the very beginning of the process and set a list of intentions we all wanted to be represented on the album. Things like “textural, vulnerable, experimental, playful, trusting, fun, brave, nostalgic.”
We all put up the list in our personal studio spaces, almost like you would a list of affirmations, and used these as a guide to reflect on when we were composing the beginnings of our ideas for the album. We had all been off doing other projects for a few years, so setting these intentions together helped us all tap into the parts of ourselves that sound and feel the most Moonchild.
LUNA: If WAVES leaves listeners with one lasting feeling or message, what would you want that to be?
MAX: I hope that they feel seen. This is an album about grief and healing, but also self-love and community. We are all in this together. You are seen. You are loved.
LUNA: Before we close, we wanted to touch on the loss of D’Angelo, whose music has deeply influenced so many. What did his legacy mean to you personally and as a band?
ANDRIS: There would be no Moonchild without D’Angelo’s music. It brought us together. During our time in the USC jazz program and the beginning stages of Moonchild’s formation, I had probably listened to Voodoo in its entirety 150 times. In many ways, it was my bible. I returned to it constantly to seek wisdom and new insights.
His restraint when it came to producing a song was something that always stuck with me. It was always about the feeling, the groove, the spirit. It was never rooted in a desire to impress. And that goal extended to his entire crew of collaborators. Listening to Voodoo, I could feel that every musician and engineer on those songs were aligned in that mission.
The news of his passing was devastating. Cancer robs so many souls from us, and it really felt like D had more to say on this planet. My only comfort was spending the whole day relistening to his albums. I was reminded yet again that I still have so much to learn from all the music he has put out — a lifetime of teachings.
MAX: Honestly, it feels way too close to his passing to be announcing an album. I never met him, but I’m still grieving. The whole community is still grieving. But WAVES is about grief, and healing, and community. We’re all healing together too. We love you D’Angelo — you are the blueprint and the soundtrack.
AMBER: There really aren’t words for how much his music has meant to me. The first time I heard D’Angelo, a whole new world opened up. I remember thinking, “This is the music I’ve been searching for my whole life.” There would be no Moonchild and no me without him.
He’s been a source of peace and healing, inspiration and medicine, a center, a home, a guiding light. I wish I could tell him thank you for changing our lives, thank you for being you, thank you for being the soundtrack and the blueprint.
