Imagine if you could find “the one”, your soulmate, just by inputting your details into a dating app that matches you to the love of your life using birth charts? This is the world Mowa Badmos creates in Love From the Cosmos, her debut romance novel. 

Love From the Cosmos follows Moyo, a Boston-based paediatrician who has everything: a thriving career, solid friends, well, except love. As a tunnel-visioned woman, she maps out the perfect plan to sieve out the chaff and find the “one”; she joins Cupid’s Bow, an astrology dating app with near-perfect matches. All is well and fine till one of the matches cheats on her. Her furious complaints lead her to Niyi, a reluctant matchmaker. As he tries to fix her mistake, they become drawn to each other, both realising that love can’t be predicted by algorithms or stars.

In this edition of Sonic Pages, we sit with Mowa Badmos to discuss the sonic world of Love From the Cosmos. Like Kulthum Asha, she too is a true R&B girl but with a bit of pop and indie rock. From Cupid by 112 to One Direction’s I Should Have Kissed You, she gives us the perfect playlist.

 

Brittle Paper

Every novel has its own sound. Looking back at Love from the Cosmos, what kind of music does the book remind you of? If someone wanted to step into its world before reading the first page, what should they listen to?

Mowa Badmos

Love from the Cosmos is hard for me to tie down to one genre of music. Mainly because I myself listened to many different genres while writing and each one brought something different. It’s also a contemporary romcom with a splash of fantasy, which sits it in between worlds—not fully contemporary and not fantastical enough to be a romantasy novel. 

If I had to choose, I’d say it sits somewhere in the R&B-Pop-Indie Rock sphere, where each genre element expertly describes different emotions and characters within the novel. 

All this in mind, I’d say the perfect song to start off with is Cupid by 112. A classic R&B song that describes the book! In the song, a person is trying to convince their sceptical partner that Cupid, a god of love, doesn’t lie and their [the partner’s] intentions in the relationship are true. Our love interest, Niyi, might not be Cupid, but he’s a god/matchmaker at Cupid’s Bow, the astrology dating app in the novel—so close enough! There’s also a line, “But we won’t know unless we give it a try,” that also sums up the feelings of both Niyi and Moyo in the book. Two people who are cautious about love but take a chance on each other. 

 

Brittle Paper

Was there a song that unlocked the novel for you? A track that made you think, “This is the feeling I’ve been trying to write.” What was it and what about it clicked?

Mowa Badmos

Evermore by Dan Stevens unlocked the novel, particularly for Niyi’s POV, which I was struggling with. As a dual-POV novel, it was important for me to have both characters complete emotional arcs. For Moyo, it was extremely easy to get into her narrative voice, but Niyi was a more introverted, melancholic character that I struggled to connect with at first. 

One day, Evermore came on shuffle and a lightbulb went off in my mind. The ballad reminded me of the restrained but deeply emotional core I wanted Niyi to have. The lyrics also remind me of him; a sad, lonely man who meets a woman he desperately wants but doesn’t feel like he deserves. A man who promises that even if they don’t end up together, he’s been irrevocably changed. Being a sweeping ballad, the song builds as the yearning intensifies, which acted as a sort of guideline when writing Niyi’s arc. 

 

Brittle Paper

If Moyo and Niyi each had a theme song, what would they be? What’s Moyo’s song? What’s Niyi’s song? And why do those tracks capture who they are?

Mowa Badmos

Moyo’s theme song is Conceited by Remy Ma! The raw confidence is so Moyo! Even though Moyo goes through some low points in the book, she’s still a highly confident, self-assured woman that believes in herself and is not afraid to say it. Her energy is infectious, and throughout the novel, she’s an inspiration to most—especially Niyi. Simply put, she’s a bad bitch!

Niyi’s theme song is How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths. It’s an indie rock track about anxiety and a vulnerability that Niyi possesses. The chorus has the deeply earnest lines, “I am human and I need to be loved / Just like everybody else does”, that are reflective of Niyi’s innermost thoughts, even if he has trouble expressing it. The bridge in particular reflects the desperation about wanting a partner and losing hope that it’ll ever happen. When we meet Niyi in Love from the Cosmos, he’s at this hopeless point, but by the end of the novel, the chorus is less a vulnerable wish and more a reminder of the romantic and platonic relationships built throughout the novel. 

 

Brittle Paper

Love from the Cosmos sits at the intersection of astrology, algorithms and romance. Is there a song that perfectly captures the novel’s central question: do we find love through destiny or through the choices we make? Why that song?

Mowa Badmos

This was very hard for me to answer because I don’t think there’s one song that could capture the question and in general, I don’t think there’ll ever be a perfect answer. What’s more important to me is the attitude we have towards love. Moyo and Niyi, while they initially tried to fight it, ended up opening themselves up to love and readying their hearts for whatever came with it (including rejection). 

The song I think captures this willing spirit is That’s How Strong My Love Is by Otis Redding. He sings, “That’s how strong my love is, so deep and wide/ That’s how strong my love/ So much to love, yes so much to love, woah,” and talks about how he wants to show up for his partner, rather than listing his wants from them. That openness towards love is the only way we can truly find love. 

Brittle Paper

Is there a particular scene in the novel that immediately reminds you of a song? It could be funny, awkward, romantic, or emotionally charged. Which scene is it and what song belongs to it?

Mowa Badmos

There’s a scene early on where Moyo discovers her “perfect match” from the app has been lying to her and she’s been the other woman. After immediately ending things, she returns home, has several drinks in an effort to drown her sorrows, but ends up filing the complaint that inadvertently begins the book. 

Whenever I think of this scene and the aftermath when Moyo wakes up hungover and realises she sent a complaint about the app, I think of Cranes in the Sky by Solange. The opening line says, “I tried to drink it away,” which is exactly what Moyo tried to do. And like Solange, Moyo learned that attempts to ignore your problems never work.

 

Brittle Paper

Every great love story has their song. If Moyo and Niyi had one, the song they’d claim as theirs, or even dance to for their first dance, what would it be, and why does it belong to them?

Mowa Badmos

I don’t know if they’d agree, but, to me, their love song is Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers. It’s a very sweet song about unexpectedly falling in love and all the jittery feelings that come with it. Moyo and Niyi don’t mean to fall for each other, and they’re very awkward about it at first. They trip over their words and get really shy in public in a way that’s described in the song.

 

Brittle Paper

Finally, if you had to build a short playlist for Love from the Cosmos, what three songs are essential to its emotional world? What part of the story or feeling does each one represent?

Mowa Badmos

Bloom Baby Bloom by Wolf Alice. Moyo and Niyi both start out with strong emotions that are perfectly captured in the heavy bass. The song talks about a fury of trying to keep a calm exterior even when pissed, but then it’s beautifully juxtaposed with a softer chorus, “I’ll bloom, baby, bloom /Watch me, yeah, you’ll see just what I’m worth”, promising better days. 

I Should’ve Kissed You by One Direction. Love from the Cosmos is a slow burn, so there are many moments that can be represented by the song. A catchy, fast-paced pop song about having a crush and wishing for the bravery to finally make a move.

Just Like Heaven by The Cure. Whenever I listen to this song, it sounds like a conversation Moyo and Niyi could easily have. The song talks about a love that feels like a dream, and that’s what Moyo, Niyi and their love story represent—daring to dream. 

 

Brittle Paper

Thank you so much for speaking to us.

Mowa Badmos

My pleasure.

 

Listen to The Love From the Cosmos playlist here.