Entertainment

Mandy Moore has been through rehab.

It's not what you think. It's not the same program that Britney, Lindsay and other former teen-pop cohorts have resorted (pun intended) to. Ms. Moore hasn't shaved her head or wrecked her Benz. She's still the cheery, principled, media-wary girl next door, with looks and an outlook that belie her 23 years – nearly nine of them as a celebrity.

She's in recovery, though. Her musical remodeling took longer because it's much more drastic. It's been six years since she recorded original music.

Sheryl Nields

Pop singer-songwriter and actress Mandy Moore performs Saturday at the Nasher.

"To be quite honest, it wasn't a completely conscious decision," Ms. Moore says in between errands in Los Angeles. "I was on a roll making movies and having a ball doing that. I had an iffy situation in terms of the label I was going to leave, Epic, and searching for the right fit was a struggle at times.

"But the thing is, I think that I needed to be away. I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason. And I think the timing is right."

Wild Hope, a 12-song collection of gleaming contemporary roots pop and folk is set for release June 19. It's a return to her admitted first love and what made her a star in 1999, but on her terms, which no longer have anything to do with "Candy," "I Wanna Be With You" or a teen production.

She's an adult, and she's making adult music. Simple as that.

"There's still a lot that I want to accomplish that's on my list of things to do," she says. "I'd love to produce a movie. I'd love to learn how to play guitar and piano and accompany myself onstage. But I feel like I have to break ground with this record first, and that's just so exciting for me. Even though I've been doing this since I was 14, it almost feels like I'm starting over again."

In many ways, she is. She's entering a genre that's rife with established talent, from titans such as Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann and Tori Amos to emerging stars such as Lori McKenna and Rachel Yamagata. But Ms. Moore is smart as well as ambitious, and her kid-star status and recent acting forays still open doors.

She also co-wrote all of the songs on Wild Hope. But she brought in Ms. McKenna, Ms. Yamagata, Canadian folk duo the Weepies and others to fine-tune her efforts, which resonate with the honesty and personal experience that were absent in her teens.

Her new recording contract also permits her freedom to grow. She signed with the Firm Music, the semi-experimental, EMI-distributed arm of her management company that shares revenues equitably with its artists.

For Ms. Moore, such a deal means she records only what she wants to. Her chosen lifestyle – low-key and environmentally conscious (she drives a Prius and has a Benz that's fueled by soybean oil) and as folksy as possible in LA – informs her musical shift.

"I think all of that is an amalgamation of who I'm becoming since I'm still young and still discovering myself in so many ways," she says. "Sure, I'm trying to educate myself about environmental causes, but all the while I'm letting new music influence me as best I can, no matter what message it conveys."

She credits much of her sensibility to her longtime manager, Jon Leshay, who would regularly bring her favored cuts by Joan Armatrading, XTC, Joe Jackson and others. "I first heard about Rachel (Yamagata) from him," she says. "I immediately bought all of her earlier albums and became this obsessed stalker fan of hers. I was sick, but she's so good."

Ms. Moore, too, is getting good by branching out into TV roles on Entourage and Scrubs and quirky indie-film roles such as 2004's Saved! and last year's American Dreamz. Upcoming major parts opposite Robin Williams and Billy Crudup could vault her to the A-list.

She's both frightened and welcoming of this new phase, she says, and Wild Hope's first track, the Weepies-assisted "Extraordinary," expresses that since it was the final song written for the CD. But if she gets to the A-list, she's determined to stay sober.

"I've been around long enough to see the good and the bad and to learn how to avoid the bad situations," she said. "Inevitably, I believe that it's a conscious decision to live your life that way, in public. There are big, big stars out there who you don't hear anything from outside of what they're doing in their careers, and that's because that's what they want.

"I'm confident that I can do what I do and keep things on my terms. And I'm excited about what levels I can achieve. In a way, I've been the underdog all of my career, and there's a part of me that's curious about what that feels like."

Mandy Moore will perform Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Sculpture Garden at the Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora St. Her show is part of the museum's monthly " Saturday Night in the City" event, which will run from 6 p.m. to midnight. In the event of rain, the performance will move indoors, and attendance will be restricted to the first 180 people inside. Admission is $10. 214-242-5100, www.nashersculpturecenter.org.