Moonchild

Moonchild, the Los Angeles-rooted alternative R&B trio, first drew attention for their dreamy, Soulquarians-tinged grooves and the airy, unhurried delivery of vocalist Amber Navran. Across several albums their rich, low-key fusion of electronic and acoustic sounds continued to mature while the group toured alongside major acts and cultivated its own audience through projects such as the widely acclaimed 2019 set Little Ghost and the 2022 follow-up Starfruit.

The three members first crossed paths at the University of Southern California and formed the band in 2011; the lineup comprised Navran, who also plays clarinet and saxophone, alongside Max Bryk on keyboards, saxophone, and clarinet and Andris Mattson on keyboards, trumpet, and flügelhorn. They issued their debut album Be Free independently in 2012, then signed with the U.K. independent label Tru Thoughts, where they further shaped their approach on Please Rewind (2015) and Voyager (2017), the latter introducing harp and other strings to their tranquil arrangements. Moonchild has opened for Stevie Wonder and Georgia Anne Muldrow; their genre-blending reach also led to joint recordings with Detroit musician Brandon Williams on “Leave Love Be” and hip-hop producer Tall Black Guy on “I Will Never Know,” while their work later supplied a sample for Mac Miller’s “Two Matches.”

Away from the trio, Navran, Bryk, and Mattson have each released solo material and taken part in outside collaborations. In 2018 they released the single “Get to Know It” ahead of Little Ghost’s arrival that September; a companion instrumental edition, Little Ghost Instrumentals, followed one month later. The band began previewing tracks from its fifth album Starfruit in 2021, starting with the relaxed, jazz-leaning “Too Good,” before the full record appeared in February 2022.