Ex’s House Party<\/a>“); she was scheduled to head to SXSW and launch another tour from there in March when the pandemic took hold, dashing those plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor a musician like Moen, whose identity and career trajectory was wrapped up in playing live, the blow could have been devastating. But Moen took it as a sign that it was time to pause and maybe put down some roots. “Impostor syndrome is real, and the one time I\u2019ve never felt impostor syndrome is when I\u2019m on stage,” she says. “Quarantine has been a bit of a beautiful awakening of owning it more, [saying] you are still doing what you do, and you are more than just a show machine. It\u2019s been kind of a necessary chapter in my life – really hard, but also, there are some things I\u2019m thankful for, like learning more about my own brain and just being a person.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a brief stay in an attic room with spotty Wi-fi, Moen temporarily moved into her aunt’s basement. The two are close in age – Moen says it felt like staying with an older sister – and because her aunt is a therapist, the singer took the opportunity to learn more about the inner workings of her own mind. “She would never therapize me when I was staying with her. She\u2019s very good about that,” she says. “But whenever I was feeling low or like, just curious about therapy, I would ask her questions. I think mental health is an important and fascinating subject, and I was living with a therapist, so I was like, well, this is a perfect person to talk to about this sort of stuff.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moen was also inspired by hanging out with her aunt’s three young sons, and says tender EP cut “It’ll Get Tired Too” was inspired by the way even their most ardent feelings seemed to come and go. “Their emotions are pretty straight forward – they can’t really hide their emotions yet,” Moen points out. “As a touring musician I haven\u2019t been around kids a lot. Being with three kids during quarantine was intense, but I really got back in tune with how awesome kids are.” Moen also took long walks in the woods, examining some complex emotions of her own and staring down her most dysfunctional tendencies. Though they weren’t necessarily affecting her life in a negative way just yet, she knew that letting those habits take root could spell trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’s what the EP is about. The song ‘Creature of Habit’ is definitely about realizing you can’t just be single, you\u2019re always dating someone. Realizing I am so focused on finding someone else to be with [because] I\u2019m trying to not be with myself,” she explains. “Late at night I like to drink, and I use it as an excuse to text and flirt, maybe hop on the apps. There\u2019s nothing wrong with the apps, but it’s like, why do I have to have a couple glasses of wine before I do that, you know? I\u2019m realizing that was a pattern.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n