you can cut stars.

Maybe you wouldn't have bought a Mandy Moore record five years ago, but you might just want this one. It's grown-up and sophisticated - sure, she's no quirky cool Regina Spektor, but the new Mandy sound fits cozily alongside Leona Naess, or one of Rachael Yamagata's smart girl piano ballads. She's been collaborating with impressive artists, including Rachael herself, respected country-folk songwriter Lori McKenna, and quirky duo The Weepies, who loved the experience: "If it were a noncelebrity making this record, the buzz would be that this girl is the real deal." These songs are tailor-made for the mood-setting montage during the last 10 minutes of Grey's Anatomy, with melancholy lyrics like "I know you love me in your own way." People looking for dirt on Mandy's breakup with Mr. Braff will no doubt pick the words clean.

"The lyrics are my words," she says, shrugging and not offering any clues. "I know it's going to be a tricky road to navigate in terms of, 'Well, what's this song about?' All I can say is, you know sometimes things hit you and you want to write about them."