Meet the all-female team behind the ‘Moana 2’ songs

LONDON − Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear know how to go beyond.
The songwriting duo of Barlow & Bear did just that as the youngest and first all-female songwriting team for a Disney animated film with “Moana 2.”
“It’s shocking it hadn’t happened yet,” Bear, 23, tells USA TODAY. “Why don’t we have more girls telling girls’ stories? Who knows a girl’s brain better than a girl!”
“Beyond” is also the name of the ballad that anchors “Moana 2” and aptly describes the epic, albeit uncharted, mission the Grammy-winning team embarked upon in crafting songs for the sequel (in theaters now). The soundtrack also features a score by Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina.
Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Barlow & Bear’s songs tell the story of Moana’s next chapter: Upon earning the honor of wayfarer, Moana (voiced by Auli‘i Cravalho) ventures to far-off waters with demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and a motley crew of sailors (Heihei the rooster included) on the adventure of a lifetime to connect the people of Oceania.
“We love for music to take you somewhere,” Barlow, 26, says of the tunes. “I hope you feel the journey.”
Barlow & Bear were friends before the music. The duo met through a mutual friend in 2019.
“It laid a groundwork for us,” Bear says of having a friendship first. Then they discovered they could make musical magic. They each offer distinct capabilities: Barlow is a singer-songwriter with innate pop-music chops (“We love a good hook,” Bear says).
With a classical and jazz background, Bear has outsized the mantle of child prodigy since appearing on “The Ellen Show” at age 6, where she showcased her genius-level intuition for piano. She joined Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour in 2023 as her pianist and is now scoring film and television, including Anderson .Paak’s “K-Pops!” and Netflix’s “Our Little Secret” starring Lindsay Lohan.
Their styles blended perfectly during the pandemic, when the pair “fell in love with writing musical theater,” Bear says. Then came “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” their viral musical inspired by the hit Netflix series. What started as a fun project made the women the youngest-ever winners of the Grammy for best musical theater album in 2022 (Netflix settled a copyright infringement lawsuit against Barlow & Bear the same year).
“It opened a lot of doors,” Barlow says of “Bridgerton.”
About a year later, Barlow & Bear were invited to meet with the creative team for “Moana 2.” “They treated our voice with a lot of care,” Bear says. But to go from performing “Bridgerton” in their bedrooms on TikTok to a room of Disney creators was a massive leap.
Barlow & Bear had big shoes to fill. The first “Moana” soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Foa’i and Mancina garnered more than 20 billion streams worldwide. Not only did they want to capture the fan-favorite elements, but also contribute qualities that felt authentic to themselves and the character as a young woman coming into herself.
Like Moana, they took lessons from their predecessors. Barlow received guidance from Miranda when they first “set sail,” she says. Miranda gave her books to read “from the greats” about musical theater lyric writing and creation, which were “invaluable” she says.
“I had to throw out my playbook,” Barlow says. “Life became a classroom for two and a half years.”
Bear sourced inspiration from an archival library of music samples from the first film to immerse herself in the style of Te Vaka, an Oceanic music group featured in both “Moana” films, and use these audio threads to jump start new sounds.
“Grounding a song in a groove from Te Vaka inherently changed the way we wrote melody, lyrics and chords,” Bear says.
While the first film introduces Moana and her universe, the second movie is all about change for her.
The film physically ages Moana, something previous Disney films haven’t afforded female leads, Barlow says. And with a young woman’s growth comes new friends and unfamiliar, complex feelings.
“We wanted to pay homage to the world we know and love, but also, three years have passed,” Bear says. “Allow the character you know and love to grow, just as you do.”
They intentionally gave Moana an expanded vocal range to emphasize her growth. While it’s a “classic Disney ballad,” “Beyond” echoes this maturity: “You get that climatic moment when the orchestra swells and she reaches that note, it’s goose-bumpy,” Bear says.
Raps in “What Could Be Better Than This?” pay homage to Miranda-esque lyricism and rhythm, while Maui’s cheer-up tone in “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” recalls the pluckiness of his fan-beloved solo from the first film, “You’re Welcome.”
Moana’s fear of going off track is captured when she encounters the villain (or friend) Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), who sings “Get Lost.”
“It’s a villainous banger,” Barlow says of the song, her favorite from the film.
The music thrums with urgent percussion and guttural hums. These heart-fluttering moments build Moana’s journey with anticipation − and exhaustion when she feels she’s failed.
Moana must embrace these unexplored areas of herself, something Barlow & Bear can relate to.
“When you’re lost, it’s when you find out who you truly are,” Bear says.