From a pool of nearly 6,000 entrants, Utah-based band Little Moon has won the 2023 Tiny Desk Contest. Their song "Wonder Eye" was their fourth entry in the contest. It won unanimous approval from the judges, with series producer Bobby Carter praising the band's unique musical style and lead vocalist Emma Hardyman's strong vocals, "Emma's deceptively strong voice, and the band's ability to take the music to places completely unexpected, catapulted 'Wonder Eye' to the top of the heap of wonderful entries."
"Wonder Eye" was crafted from the personal trials of Emma Hardyman and her husband Nathan, the band's bassist. Their experience of losing a loved one and transitioning away from their Mormon faith fueled the creation of the song.
"Mormonism believes in life after death, resurrection and eternal families," [Emma] said. "There is beauty and comfort in our former beliefs of certainty, light and life; we honor and respect such teachings. But we also find deep beauty in uncertainty, darkness, chaos and death. Perhaps it's all one and the same."
She added: "Perhaps this song was written because we realized we have been mourning various deaths our whole lives. … Perhaps it took a major, physical death of a loved one to see that death is happening all the time — that we are always grieving something, that accepting the mysterious, shadowy nature of death can deepen one's sense of humanity and soften the ways we see ourselves and each other."
The band will perform their award-winning song at an upcoming Tiny Desk concert at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Little Moon will take the spotlight as the headliner of the Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour, sharing the stage with local contestants across the country.
