Interview: Lane Moore gets spooky, talks horror movies, Final Girls, and music
Moore makes a devilish splash with her new EP, Final Girl.
Final Girl is a term coined by Carol Clover in her 1992 book, “Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.” From Fay Wray to Jamie Lee Curtis to Sydney Prescott and beyond, the phrase has been retooled and reapplied perhaps hundreds of times. It captures the heroine who survives until the end of a slasher film. Her strength and vulnerability endear her to the audience, leaving them empowered when she conquers the bad guy at the end. That idea pulses inside Lane Moore‘s new EP, appropriately titled Final Girl.
A batch of four pop songs stab the eardrums, like the Psycho theme, as you’ll encounter with the title track. Moore sings from somewhere primal, coating the lyrics with a certain fang-toothed prowess. “TBA” flickers past the eyelids with a ravaging drum chorus and the inescapable feeling you’re being watched. It’s all the experience, really, of slipping into Moore’s singular use of drums to drive her melodies. She’s survived over the years between releases, if even a little worse for wear. But she’s more committed to the music, and goodness, does it pay off.
Moore and her full band It Was Romance released their debut album back in 2015. 10 years later, they’ve grown and transformed, finally able to soar and claw at the universe. It doesn’t really matter that it took a decade to come roaring back. What matters is they’re here now – and they’ve got something to say.
Below, Moore discusses her new EP, horror movies, and Final Girls. Check it out!
What emotions have you been feeling since making this big return?
Seeing people love this record, dance to it, and relate to it is thrilling. I wrote these songs about feeling like you keep getting knocked down and looking for hope that one day things can shift, because I needed those songs. It’s great to see a lot of people need them too.
I hear you’re a big horror movie fan (hence the Final Girl EP title). What was the first horror movie you ever saw, and where were you?
Scream. I saw it at a sleepover, and we definitely shouldn’t have been watching it that young, I think someone’s Dad had it and we were like, “Oh fun!” I was terrified for months after that and instantly obsessed.
Do you have any favorite Final Girls?
Sydney Prescott, obviously. Nancy Thompson. Buffy Summers is totally a final girl, one of my favorites. I HATE that Barb dies in Black Christmas, but I’m counting her because she’s incredible. You know what? Tatem Riley, too. I know she’s not a final girl, but she should’ve been. Tatem forever.
What is it about that archetype that SO many people identify with?
For me, I’ve survived an insane amount of shit, and the only depiction I’ve ever seen in the media that talks about what that feels like is final girls in horror movies. That feeling of “Hold up, I gotta survive this too? Come on.” I relate to final girls more than anyone else.
If you were transported inside a horror movie, what would it be?
Blood And Black Lace
With “Playing Records,” you told Billboard that it’s a happy song amidst depression. Besides music, what things bring you joy in life?
Creating, writing, performing is the biggest thing. But my dog Lights is everything. She tours with me and comes with me to our shows sometimes. She is not a fan of drums.
The duality of emotion courses through the EP. You had this music for five years. What’s most striking for you now about the project?
The songs hit even harder for me now. I feel them even more deeply, and I think so many people feel that idea of “everything is ROUGH, but I’m gonna go radically in the direction of hope anyway,” more than ever before. They make even more sense now. Divine timing got it right, man.
