Chance

Abuela

Cuidate

Elegy

Moody Beach is the brainchild of Sydney songwriter Melissah Marie. For Marie, music is a way of documenting what’s happening in her life. Preferring to write a song instead of using a camera, Marie weaves her experiences together letting them live their own lives for her listeners. For Marie, the work is about ‘connection’ and through music & performance she tries to serve up some of life’s honesty and complexities.

To Marie, writing music is a journey of catharsis. It’s a space to unpack her experiences; granting her the freedom to reflect and build connections by sharing her unfiltered self. Marie explains, “I’m lucky to have an outlet for all the thoughts, ideas, interpretations, and memories running through my head. I like challenging perceptions, both my perception of others and their perceptions of me.”

On that note, if you’ve ever seen Moody Beach perform, you’ll see how she owns her space on stage. “A woman’s body is still a controversial subject,” Marie remarks, “it’s something I consciously tackle through my music, alongside how I behave and what I wear.” Sometimes that’s confronting for people. Marie has been told that it “distracts from [her] music…” a particularly disappointing critique in the middle of the Me Too era. “Mate, I am my music!” Marie responds “I get to decide what that looks like. I’m so done with these ideas of what a woman ‘should be.’” It’s a central part of who she is and through her music she hopes to make a little space for other women identifying and gender fluid people whom feel the same. 

This year will see Moody Beach release some highly anticipated new music, culminating in her sophomore EP, Mirage, set to drop in September. “When it comes to music, I’m not scared to experiment with genres. ‘Mirage’, is a collection of all my favourite sounds. Pop to shoegaze, flamenco to dark-wave - all fitting together in a sonic loop.” 

The first taste of ‘Mirage’ is with debut single, “Slave” to be released June 14.

“Slave is about objectification, ownership and agency. It’s a tango of power and control shrouded in dark synth vibes” – Melissah Marie / Moody Beach

Much lies ahead for Moody Beach with Marie set to release a collection of music, videos, performances and more surprises to come. 

“Where it goes from here, I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” – Melissah Marie / Moody Beach.

Moody Beach - Slave

Codeine

Hawaii

I Should Exercise

Vanilla

Sydney-based singer-songwriter Moody Beach (aka Melissah Mirage) shares her new single, “Why Not” out via Viscera Arts.

A follow-up to her lauded sophomore EP ‘Mirage’, Mirage continues to flourish in distilling her sound and lyrics as fluid expressions of her life experience, and exploration of agency and autonomy as a woman. Produced by Kim Moyes of The Presets, “Why Not” opens to a plucked bass line as Mirage’s hazy vocals cut to the fold, in a smoke-laced hit of instantly addictive melody. Between shoegaze-riddled fuzz and crisp snares, “Why Not” is the perfect amalgamation of analog and electro, as every note sits with clarity in Marie’s serenading world of indie-pop catharsis.

Moody Beach says about “Why Not”: “‘Why Not’ is about unfulfilled desire towards a person who is off-limits; how this desire muddles the brain and your capacity to think and act logically. To me, desire is one of the most primal human instincts. I revelled in the feeling and had a lot of fun writing the song. It was the perfect outlet and a cathartic release.”

Kim Moyes says about “Why Not”: “Even in the roughest & purest form of the demo, “Why Not” stood out as something instantly exciting and relatable. The overall energy struck me as a perfect, but unusual kind of left-field hot-and-bothered. Most importantly, I felt that Mel's lyrics nailed the sense of excitement, danger and angst of desire. It was an absolute pleasure to help realise Mel's vision for the record.”

Moody Beach - Why Not

Music is a science, and Moody Beach loves to experiment. Mixing indie rock with elements of flamenco, metal, R&B, and pop, the result is explosive - perhaps why the band has been known to perform in hazmat suits.

Frontwoman Melissah Mirage has released three bodies of work since 2017, collaborating with various renowned artists and producers along the way, including Kim Moyes (The Presets) and Dean Tuza (Stella Donnelly, The Rubens). The band has performed shows and festivals all over Australia and lived to tell the tale, despite a near death experience on the tour bus on the Hume Highway.

Former members of Moody Beach were plucked from some of Sydney’s greatest bands, but 2023 saw the lineup solidify with Melissah Mirage on vocals and bass, Xavier Diekman on drums, Jamhound Booker on guitar and Oskar Johanson on guitar and keys. The band spent the remaining months of 2023 in the lab, testing musical hypotheses and recording new material. 

What will Moody Beach release next? There’s only one way to find out, dear listener. Join us on a journey of musical discovery.

MOODY BEACH

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