Mo Milan (Cocoa Pastel)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2025? (In order 1-5)
- Pixel Grip - Percepticide: The Death of Reality
- Men I Trust - Equus Asinus
- Men I Trust - Equus Caballus
- Jerskin Fendrix - Bugonia (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Mo Milan - lover
What band did you discover in 2025 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? How so?
Cinderella. They’re a Filipino pop group from the 1970s who played a key role in shaping the Manila Sound movement. As a Filipino American, it felt like discovering lineage. It reframed how I think about pop, cultural memory, and where I locate myself within a broader musical history.
How will you remember 2025 (in terms of music)?
Honestly, 2025 feels like a limbo year for music. Between the rise of AI, Spotify allowing remixes of artists’ work, and musicians actively migrating away from dominant platforms, the function of music feels fundamentally altered. Paul McCartney talked about this years ago -- music becoming less about listening and more about feeding algorithms and short-form content. Right now, everything feels unsettled and unresolved.
To me, the saving grace of this year is the release of my debut EP as a self-contained artist. I do all the composing, songwriting, production, performances, engineering. My girl EP by Cocoa Pastel is my way of keeping the indie pop, synth-pop traditions alive.
What can we look forward to from you in 2026?
A new Cocoa Pastel album, featuring some truly incredible artists. It’s a project that continues to blur music, sound design, and atmosphere, but with a sharper emotional focus and a stronger sense of world-building than anything I’ve released before.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2026?
I’m very much waiting to hear what Boy Harsher releases next.
Singles rule the music scene right now. How has that affected you as a band or label? Has it influenced your approach to new releases or touring?
It hasn’t. I focus on making music that feels necessary. I believe there are people out there who need something to connect to that makes them feel alive. That always has been, and always will be, more important to me than release strategies or trends.
Mo Milan – social media links
- Instagram: @cocoapastelmusic
