At just 21, Henry Moodie has already racked up nearly a billion streams, topped TikTok charts, and landed on Rolling Stone UK’s Future of Music list – not bad for someone who, by his own admission, is still figuring it all out.
When Rolling Stone AU/NZ speaks with Moodie, he’s tucked away in his label’s Sydney office, amid another packed day of press, soundchecks, and, no doubt, a touch of jet lag.
He laughs when reflecting on how far he’s come in such a short amount of time, admitting that his calm confidence hasn’t always come so easily. “If you look back at [my] videos from 2023, I didn’t even know who I was as an artist. But you have to allow the time to grow into yourself,” he tells us.
The support tour marks Moodie’s second visit Down Under, following his sold-out headline debut in 2024.
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“I love literally everything about Australia,” he smiles. “Last year was amazing, we somehow sold out that tour and the fans were electric. I remember the Sydney show, we did the Factory Theatre, I remember there was a moment in that show where I stood there and the crowd kept cheering. I was stood on stage and I was just taking it in, like ‘what is life?’ I’m so lucky that I get to travel to the other side of the world and still feel so connected.”
That connection is at the heart of Moodie’s music, and couldn’t be clearer than on his debut album mood swings, released earlier this year. The record captures the chaos, beauty, and heartbreak of his young adulthood, exploring love, friendship, mental health, and self-discovery through shimmering pop melancholy.
“It’s taken a lot of trial and error,” Moodie explains. “And phases of identity crises, where it takes a while to come into yourself as an artist. I started out writing songs when I was really, really young, and I started doing the job when I was 17, 18. And I think it just took a few years of touring a lot, writing a lot of songs before I felt comfortable enough to put out a first album.
“Because it’s such a big thing, like this is now part of my legacy, I wanted it to be the best album it possibly could be. So I’m happy I didn’t rush it, happy I took the time.”
After two EPs – 2023’s in all of my lonely nights and 2024’s good old days – Moodie’s debut full-length feels like the moment where everything clicks. It’s deeply personal yet universally relatable, perfectly encapsulating the kind of emotions that define your early twenties.
Moodie’s approach to music has always been disarmingly open. “I use songwriting as therapy,” he says. “I tend to be as honest as I can, and once I finish the song, then I’m like, ‘Do I put this out or not?’ I think being as honest as you can is a really important thing, all my favourite artists have got me through really difficult times because of how vulnerable they’ve been with their songs and I feel like I really see myself through that, so if I can do that for someone else, that’s really my goal.”
That vulnerability reaches its rawest point on “dear drew”, one of the album’s standout tracks, inspired by a childhood bully who unexpectedly apologised years later.
Moodie remembers the interaction vividly. “It just made me think a lot about growth and the fact that he had grown as a person clearly, because it was a really genuine apology, I could tell he really meant it,” he says. “And I felt like I’d grown as well, and bullying didn’t really break me, it kind of made me. And writing that song, it was transporting me back into those emotions which were challenging, but it was also a nice bit of closure.”
Moodie reveals the title track might be his favourite, or at least the one he’s most proud of, purely because he finds writing upbeat songs considerably more difficult than sad songs. When I ask him why this is, he sighs, saying bright, poppy songs can “easily go into a cringe space very quickly” and it can be difficult not to cross that fine line.
He points out “cigarette”, a collaboration with pop songwriter Julia Michaels, as one that represents his growth as a writer. “That one feels like the most advanced I’ve become,” he says. “I’m really proud of that song.”
Moodie is part of a new generation of artists shaped, and sometimes tested, by social media. With millions of followers and hundreds of millions of views, he’s one of the UK’s most-watched artists on TikTok. But while the platform helped launch his career, it’s a relationship he approaches with caution.
When asked if it’s exciting or suffocating to have your career so intertwined with the internet. Moodie admits it’s “a bit of both.”
“It’s a really complex thing,” he continues. “I love social media because it’s an amazing way to connect with people all over the world at the same time and keep your fan base updated. It’s a good way to express who you are, like I think as an artist, gone are the days of being mysterious and untouchable.
“I’m constantly thinking about virality… it feels like 60% of the job to be honest. I feel like the other 40% is the performing and the songwriting. And it is a lot of just constantly thinking about how I’m gonna promote my music at all times.”
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He pauses. “I think that’s changing though. In 2022, 2023, it felt like everything was getting made for TikTok, do you know what I mean?
“There were so many songs that blew up that year that felt gimmicky,” he says. “I think that’s gone, these days people are going way more towards artistry… fans are bored of it, the general public can tell now.”
For Moodie, the biggest growth of his career has come from performing live himself. While he’s evidently confident online with his mass followers, the performance side of being an artist came less naturally.
“Songwriting has always come naturally to me, I didn’t even know I wanted to be a performer, originally I kind of wanted to just be a songwriter. So I feel that’s where the growth has happened. Again, 2023, my outfits were horrifying,” he laughs. “So even in terms of my fashion, and my identity, my stage presence, that’s where my growth is.”
Even now, on tour with Lauren Spencer Smith, he’s still honing his craft. “She’s incredible. Her production is amazing, she’s really nailed the choreo of the whole set, and that’s really inspired me,” he says.
Moodie takes a final moment to appreciate his fans. “With social media, people expect you to come into the music industry a fully formed artist, and that just isn’t normal. You should be allowed to grow, and I feel like I’ve come into myself more, and they’ve allowed that which is amazing.”
