Texan singer/songwriter Jackson Scribner bares his soul on “Mr. Moon,” a midnight reverie that transforms solitude into song and loneliness into light – and the aching third single off his sophomore album, ‘Depression Kids.’
Stream: “Mr. Moon” – Jackson Scribner
Mr. Moon, how are you? Tried my best to sleep through…
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The moon has always been a mirror for our loneliest, darkest hours.
Crescent, gibbous, or full, it hangs quietly above, ever-present while we wrestle with sleepless nights, heavy thoughts, and the lingering weight of memory. It’s there when the house is still and the world feels impossibly wide; when silence becomes both comfort and burden, pressing on the chest with a gravity all its own. In that fragile space between exhaustion and dreaming, where shadows blur with yearning, Jackson Scribner’s “Mr. Moon” takes shape – a hushed confession to the star-strewn sky, aching and intimate, yet expansive enough to hold the fullness of our aloneness.
A midnight reverie and late-night confessional wrapped into one soul-stirring indie folk song, “Mr. Moon” transforms solitude into song, giving voice to the ache of lonely hours and the longing for light in the dark.”
I wish I could say
I was happy to see
You again my oldest friend
how convenient
That you’d come around
when I’m feeling down
It’s just like you
to make me feel so grey and blue
Oh so grey and blue
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Mr. Moon,” the third single off Jackson Scribner’s upcoming sophomore album Depression Kids (out September 19 via State Fair Records). A singer/songwriter hailing from rural Melissa, Texas, Scribner first introduced himself with his 2021 self-titled debut, a “precocious” collection praised by outlets like American Songwriter, Folk Alley, and No Depression alike. While that record was captured in just two weeks and spotlighted his instinctive gift for melody, Depression Kids emerges from a slower, more intentional process – one rooted in personal struggle, familial collaboration (with his brother Levi Scribner), and a desire to turn the isolating experience of depression into a point of connection.
Sonically and lyrically, “Mr. Moon” aches through and through.
The track opens with Scribner’s solitary voice and guitar, a gentle phaser effect casting the scene in otherworldly light. For nearly a minute, the song dwells in this intimate stillness, until pedal steel, bass, and drums enter and the atmosphere blossoms into something both tender and full-bodied. Scribner’s soft vocal grows louder, spilling into the night as he bares his heart in an intimate self-reckoning. A radiant guitar solo midway through adds both drama and catharsis, making the track unforgettable in its emotional impact.
For Scribner, this song is a dialogue with loneliness itself, a way of naming and facing what so often feels unspeakable. “‘Mr. Moon’ is in a way addressing your own isolation and loneliness as if it were something you could talk to,” he tells Atwood Magazine. “Telling it the places you’d rather be, the way you’d like to see yourself. A self-reflection inside a song.”
That self-reflection is captured in vivid imagery throughout the lyrics: “Mr. Moon, how are you? Tried my best to sleep through / My mind in the night kept me wide awake, it was my mistake.” What begins as a simple conversation with the moon becomes a searching meditation on sleeplessness, longing, and the stubborn persistence of inner shadows.
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Tried my best to sleep through
My mind in the night
Kept me wide awake, it was my mistake
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Where his self-titled debut leaned on solo intuition and stripped-back simplicity, Scribner’s new material embraces collaboration and fuller arrangements.
Together with his brother Levi and an ensemble of seasoned players (including Jeff Ryan of The War on Drugs and Kim Herriage of Songhoy Blues), Scribner expands his sound without losing the homespun intimacy that defined his debut.
Depression Kids is heavier, louder, and bolder than its predecessor, yet still rooted in the warmth and humanity of his voice – that coarse, evocative timbre likened to Gregory Alan Isakov or Shakey Graves.
What would I say
if my words could reach?
Would I curse the dark,
or pray to God for that morning?
To hurry and find me
with my eyes, valley wide
Staring at the ceiling,
wishing I was dreaming in paradise
Oh, sweet paradise
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Tried my best to sleep through
My mind in the night
Kept me wide awake, it was my mistake
Mr. Moon, how are you?
“Mr. Moon” is both haunting and healing – a reminder that loneliness, when faced head-on, can become a vessel for connection and catharsis. Scribner turns isolation into poetry, quiet nights into anthems, and silence into song.
Stream this single exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more to come from Jackson Scribner as he and his brother Levi continue to turn solitude into solidarity, and sorrow into something human, heartfelt, and unifying.
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Tried my best to sleep through
My mind in the night
Kept me wide awake, it was my mistake
Mr. Moon, how are you?
Mr. Moon, how are you?
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© Brendan Blaney
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