Cautiously Optimistic

Abra Moore

Title: TBA

Label: J Records

Release Date: TBA

What Took So Long?: "I've been takin' care of business," says Moore of the follow-up to 1997's Strangest Places. For starters, she's followed Arista founder Clive Davis to the "instant major label" he formed last August, J Records.

"It's been an interesting transitional time, both personally and with the label," she says. "We knew Clive setting up shop and getting up and running would take time. But it's time I needed anyway. It took a lot of the pressure off. It's all good."

What to Expect: Dividing her time between Austin, Nashville, New York, and Los Angeles, Moore split the sessions between primary producers Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin) and Gregg Alexander (New Radicals). Just over halfway done, Moore says she thinks the end result will be more "pretty" and textured than her previous efforts.

"It's a pop record with some lush loveliness," she says. "It's pop in the good sense of the word, and I think it'll surprise people. It's an uplifting heart-filled piece of work, especially because fate has stepped in to allow me to putter through my mortal existence here and finally finish it up."