Springfield, MO-based Molly Healy is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who may arguably be best known for being a longtime fiddle player for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. In 2015, Healy stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist after the purchase of a looping pedal.
Healy’s solo debut, 2015’s Nightbirds saw her crafting material that blended her voice and strings together into atmospheric and experimental, orchestral folk. Since Nightbirds‘ release, Healy has released two more albums, 2017’s Human, and 2019’s Circles, which have revealed a restlessly experimental songwriter, expanding upon and refining her sound and approach.
The Springfield, MO-based artist’s recently released third album, Lotus may very well be her most ambitious effort to date. Influenced by an eclectic array of artists including Radiohead, Andrew Bird, Zoe Keating, and Rasputina, the album’s material pairs lush string arrangements with beats and electronic production. Some songs feature a full choir and/or orchestral arrangements — and Healy’s daughter joints in on electric guitar for a track.
Lotus‘ latest single “Us and Them” is one-part 70s orchestral disco, one-part orchestral chamber pop, one-part psych soul, centered around a dance floor friendly groove and Healy’s ethereal and sultry cooing. But like countless dance music-related songs before it, “Us and Them” is rooted in incisive political commentary, informed by our unusually heightened moment: in this case, the polarization of political ideas and the dangers it creates for all of us.
