As a package, this doesn’t just feel like a comeback it felt like the arrival of a star.'In My Pocket' is a song by American recording artist Mandy Moore for her self-titled third studio album. Mandy Moore sells the song for all it’s worth, bringing intensity, awe and liberation to the proceedings around her. Instead, In My Pocket succeeds – tremendously so – thanks to her screen presence, which more than compensates for any shortcoming elsewhere. Furthermore, the editing creatively disguises Mandy Moore’s (self-professed) limited dancing ability by framing her against a backdrop of extras and dancers while keeping her involvement to shimmies, shoulder shakes and some obligatory hand fan action. It’s a visual treat, flooded with vivid, neon colours. Instead, she’s shown strutting through a party which is choreographed and fashioned on the sound of In My Pocket, though there’s probably a bit of creative cultural licence employed. Though this single was intended to push Mandy Moore in a maturer direction, the video stops short of presenting her in an overly-sexualised way, which was rather refreshing for the time. Particularly since the following line: “Nothing but faith to keep me warm”, does little to clear things up. And once noticed, it’s impossible to un-hear: “Nothing but panties in my pocket”. Because yes, there’s no escaping it: In My Pocket has an entirely innocent lyric ( “Nothing but pennies in my pocket”) that can easily be misconstrued as something completely different thanks to the pronunciation and distorted vocals placed throughout the song. Indeed, it’s a mystery that Holly Valance didn’t cover it for her debut album the following year, given how well it would have fit both sonically and lyrically. This is a terrific example, too (no surprise given it was co-written by Emilio Estefan, Jr.). It was bang-on-trend – if not slightly ahead of the curve – for the time, arriving before many mainstream acts began experimenting with this style and incorporating it into their music. In My Pocket sends Mandy Moore down the Middle Eastern pop song route with hip-shaking beats and dramatic violin riffs.

Mandy moore in my pocket