‘Moana 2’ Songwriters Defend Soundtrack After Criticism: ‘Give It a Month, All the Kids Will Be Singing It’

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Make no mistake about it, “Moana 2” is a hit. The Disney sequel set a Thanksgiving box office record with $225 million over the five-day holiday frame.

While audiences have flocked to movie theaters, fans haven’t been so kind to the film’s music and its songwriters. The main criticism is that the songs don’t have that Disney hook, with some even saying it needed better songs.

Or that the songs just don’t live up to those composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the 2016 original. Songwriter Abigail Barlow responds with a smile, “Give it a month, all the kids will be singing it, and you’ll be tired of it.” Barlow is one half of Barlow and Bear (Emily Bear), the songwriting team behind the new songs featured in Disney’s “Moana 2.” Bear chimes in, “I would say that everyone has an opinion.” She adds, “Writing a sequel is really difficult because obviously, you’re never going to be able to recreate the feeling of the first one.

And so, people like what they know, and this is new. So, of course, they’re going to have opinions. And I don’t know…music is subjective.” Indeed it is.