Having explored the pitfalls of people-pleasing on her psychedelic disco revival ‘Shapeshifting’, the headstrong 23-year-old Berlin-based songstress Moli’s (born Molly Irvine) new single ‘Crying In the Swimming Pool’ (Embassy of Music) marks her sonic and aesthetic makeover. Co-written with German artists Charlott Boss (Nod One’s Head) and Dennis Neuer (KPTN), and produced by Norwegian Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Kakkmaddafakka, Sondre Lerche), the release coincides with Moli’s live show at the upcoming annual Denniz Pop Awards 2022 in Stockholm.
Taking cues from stellar chord progressions and unique harmonies of the 1970s trailblazers, ‘Crying In The Swimming Pool’ was born out of shared love for ABBA, Queen, and Kate Bush Moli and Matias discovered during the creative process in Bergen, a collaboration she described as “an absolute dream come true”. The sheer joy of the working relationship and a common taste in music are evident in the numerous stylistic touches from the gently pulsing synth in the bridge to the splendid downward cascading piano right at the end of middle eight that segues Moli back into the chorus: “Now I’m crying in the swimming pool / I get wasted in the afternoon / Cause I’m running out of places to go / Wish I was high but I’m on a low.”
It’s only fitting that – much like the singer herself – the song grew a lot over 12 months. What began as a stripped-down sketch written for the guitar turned into an accomplished pop spectacle in the end. “As the year went on, the song was just sitting there. Months went by and I still had the feeling that the song was something special. It was just in need of a bigger production. I sent it over to Matias to get his thoughts on it and he was really into it,” Moli remembers. “When I went over to Bergen to meet up, he just blew me away. We completely aligned on the vision and when he played me his ideas for Crying, I remember feeling this great sense of relief. It was like I had found the missing piece to the puzzle. Because I was different, the work I was doing was different.”
Trading the mirror balls and dance floors for a fuller sound with more complex instrumentation and a greater emotional depth, ‘Crying In The Swimming Pool’ is the first step toward a fully fledged, independent female artist determined to put herself right in the middle of the alt-pop map and steer her career to a new direction.
There are artists who are known by their trademark sound, and then there are artists who are the polar opposite of that, moving between styles with remarkable fluidity, surprising us at every turn. Belgian singer-songwriter Moli (born Molly Irvine) is the latter kind. Having a chat with her at Passenger Espresso in trendy Wrangelkiez before her afternoon writing session, we look back on her career so far. Dressed up in what could be described as The Classic Molly Irvine Look – a light blue denim jumpsuit – her contagious radiance soon lights up the dim back corner of the café.
Putting out her shiny, soulful debut EP ‘Résumé’ when still a teen, and subsequently moving to Berlin determined to make a living from songwriting, Moli soon reinvented herself with pulsing dance-pop heater ‘Nowhere’ followed by triphop number ‘Lonely Nights’ before being signed to Embassy of Music and releasing the second EP ‘Préface’, her own take on disco-era vibes. “I always had a bit of a rediscovery phase between each piece of work,” she explains.
Soon after arriving in Berlin, she realised writing for other artists alongside her solo releases was a viable option. “I found a lot of pleasure in writing for other people, and it enabled me to explore different genres of music,” Moli says. With over 70 writing credits under her belt for songs with streams soaring into hundreds of millions on Spotify – such as 'Breaking Me' by Topic and A7S for which she received a BMI Pop Award in 2021 – her track record is as rock-solid as her work ethic.
10 minutes into our conversation, this character trait has already become evident. “Collaboration has been at the heart of finding my sound, finding people who have the same kind of taste as I do,” she elaborates, leaving no prizes for guessing where she got hers from. “My dad is a huge music fan. We would often be in the car cause we would go to South of France on holiday and he would be the DJ,” she remembers, smiling, and mentions ‘I’m On Fire’ by Bruce Springsteen. “Those are the songs that were stuck with me.”
That’s not to say fellow musicians of the Generation Z – Wet Leg, Phoebe Bridgers, Holly Humberstone – are off the table. And she doesn’t say no to football chants and
power chords either. “I’ve had really different phases recently. Over the summer I listened to a lot of punk-rock, like Idles. Cause I went to Tempelhof Sounds 2022 and they were playing, and I just completely fell in love with the chaos,” she admits, laughing. “This man yelling at me in a really heavy British accent, I loved it!”
Shared musical palates aside, her description of an ideal collaborator is very lifelike.
“Sometimes I compare collaborating and dating. You just have a feeling you’re on the same page, you can just be yourself,” she describes. “It’s the same with finding a producer. It’s like you’re speaking the same language musically, they understand where you are coming from.”
As the conversation moves on to her experiences in the music industry and the lessons she’s learnt along the way, it becomes increasingly clear just how down to earth artist she is. “I feel like the whole industry can be ego-first,” she states. “I think you should leave your ego at the door when it comes to creating music.”
Where Moli’s maturity really shows is in her understanding of her own limitations. “I would have loved to be a bit more educated. But then on the other hand the education came from the mistakes that I made,” she ponders. “I can’t think of anything I’d do differently because I’d be scared that if I’d worked or done something differently, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
The most striking thing about her is the fact that all her commendable output and intense collaboration comes down to a singular, universal driving force. “I think love is the biggest source of inspiration for many types of art,” she sums up without any hesitation. “If I look at it in a deeper sense, we’re all craving for this validation as artists and validation being receiving love from other people for what we do, and so that also intertwines with working and getting love back and being inspired by love.”
When describing key to physical and mental health wellbeing, Sigmund Freud famously said, “Love and work... work and love... that’s all there is.” And sometimes, just sometimes, those two merge seamlessly together in unexpected, spectacular ways most of us can only dream of.
- “[Moli] breaks apart the ambiguities of modern romance... ” (The Line of Best Fit)
- “Anglo-Belgian newcomer Moli doesn’t let anything stand in her way... Bright, vivid, neon-lit pop music, each song makes a deep and lasting impression, with an astute lyrical touch that seems to nail each topic.” (Clash)
- “She can freeze her instrument into a brittle falsetto, then soften it into a soulful, sultry dripping substance that snags on every syllable with grace and agility.” (Paper Mag)
- “The pop singer making music you can dance or cry to” (Wonderland)
- “This 19-year-old Anglo-Belgian electropop diva’s blasé attitude is everything.” (Girls Are Awesome)
- “Singing live is a challenging feat for anyone, especially on camera – but Moli took the challenge in stride” (Majestic Casual)
- “... featuring fresh, soulful vocals sitting effortlessly on a beat which is ready-made for your speakers.” (Complex)