Moana 2 soundtrack: what are the songs and who are songwriters Barlow and Bear?

13 December 2024, 15:30

Meet Moana 2 songwriters Barlow & Bear | Classic FM

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

Exploring the music of Moana 2, whose songs were written by Disney’s youngest ever songwriting duo.

Loading audio...

One of Disney’s biggest feel-good successes of the last 10 years, Moana, has a sequel out in cinemas – and musical theatre maestro Lin Manuel Miranda has been replaced as songwriter by the young duo Barlow and Bear, who are the youngest and first all-female songwriting duo to write the songs for a Disney film.

Moana 2 takes place a few years after the events of the original film, and we see its now older, more mature protagonist embark on a quest to unite people from across the ocean.

But how does the new music reflect this character journey? We explore the music of 2024 animated Disney film Moana 2.

Watch the Moana 2 trailer

Who composed the music for Moana 2?

Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i, who composed original songs for the original film, have returned to compose a score that represents and celebrates Pacific and Polynesian culture, while sitting firmly in the Disney soundworld.

Meanwhile, American singer-songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear have replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda to co-compose the songs. Barlow and Bear won a Grammy Award for best musical theatre album for The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022.

Abigail Barlow, a songwriter and lyricist, told Classic FM: “We got an email asking if we wanted to meet the creatives behind the sequel that's happening. And we made a case for writing the music and then we got the job, which felt crazy.”

Emily Bear, who is a composer and pianist, described taking the baton from Miranda as “a daunting task” with “big shoes to fill”, adding: “We grew up on Disney movies – we are the Disney generation. So it’s not a responsibility that we take lightly.”

But, she added, “You’ve just got to tuck that away in the back of your head and focus on writing good music.”

Miranda apparently provided Barlow with “a stack of books” on how to write lyrics for a musical film.

Emily Bear told Classic FM: “Only girls know the inside of a girl’s mind the best. So I love this movie and the emotional journey that Moana goes on. Not only just because we get to see a heroin age and evolve for one of the very first times.

“But, you know, she’s strong and brave and inspiring in all the things we know and love about Moana. But she also has some very human moments in this. She questions a lot. You see a more vulnerable side of her. And I think that’s a beautiful thing for a young generation to see because we all take these leaps of faith or we leave a lot of things that we know behind and we step into uncharted territory, excuse pun.

“And I think having young people watch a heroin that they look up to go through these big changes and struggle a little bit, but ultimately use them as a growing life lesson is a beautiful thing.”

Moana 2 is now out in cinemas. Picture: Alamy

Who sings on the Moana 2 soundtrack?

Actors Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rose Matafeo and the whole Moana cast sing the new tracks written by Barlow and Bear.

Cravalho told press on the involvement of the young writing duo: “For two women to be part of that and trying to get to the heart of the story, which is a young woman finding her way, I couldn't think of a better duo than Barlow and Bear. ... This is a new part of my voice. ... This film digs into these low notes in these times of indecision when we don't know what we are supposed to do next. There’s a lot of deeper layers to these songs.”

Johnson’s follow-up song to ‘You’re Welcome’ is ‘Can I Get a Chee Hoo?’. Johnson described the song as “vocally challenging” except for the rap sections.