On the Rise
Molly Burman

Born into an Irish Catholic family, Burman’s parents were already laying the foundations for her musical upbringing before she was even born. Her father was involved in the punk scene from the age of 18, playing bass in The Chiefs of Relief with Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols, while her mother was friends with members of The Pogues and performed with frontman Shane MacGowan.

Burman made her first recording at the age of six when she wrote a Christmas song with her dad, which turned out to be the beginning of the father–daughter musical bond that remains core to her creative process today. “When I first started producing tracks with my dad and taking the songs seriously, I think I was 13,” she says. “All the stuff that’s on my Spotify at the moment is co-produced with my dad. We can just sit in the studio for ages noodling away over stuff. It’s so fun!”

Her debut single “Happy Things” was released in 2018. Then, she left music completely alone before coming back to it a few years later after finding the song had amassed more than a million streams on Spotify. A debut EP – Fool Me With Flattery – followed in 2021, allowing Burman to build her fanbase and further express her nostalgic indie pop aesthetic. “My style of songwriting is straight to the point,” she tells me. “I sing how I talk and my songs are conversational. People like Lily Allen and Kate Nash, they’d write songs the same way they’d speak about them. I’ve never been a poetic person, it’s just me I guess.” Her unfiltered tone is what Burman believes allows listeners to connect to her the music the most. “For me, my songs just kind of come out the way they do without too much thought,” she adds. “But hearing how people go through the same things that I write about in my songs helps to make me feel less alone. Nobody’s life is that different really; we’re all just humans going through our own experiences. It’s good that other people can relate and find a safe space within my music.”

Our conversation turns to new music in the form of Burman’s upcoming EP Worlds Within Worlds. Due out in late August, its six tracks span love, relationships and self-identity hold onto the charm that flows throughout Burman's previous material. It also illustrates new, forward-thinking sides to her artistry with a visible drift towards a more pop leaning sound and new approaches to her process all encapsulated in the music. “I wanted to push the boundaries, have other people’s input and take the songs as far as I could,” she explains. “I started working with new producers and recording in new studios for the first time. I was terrified of doing a writing session beforehand. Usually when I write, I would do it by myself then play my dad a bunch of songs that I’d put together. But it ended up being a really great experience.”

As well as growing musically, Worlds Within Worlds also displays a shift in personal growth for Burman since her last EP. “Life has been ridiculous,” she laughs. “With the last EP, I’d written a lot of the songs on there when I was 18. Now I’m 22, so it’s a mad difference. I’ve had my first relationship since then, my first betrayals and all sorts. But I’m thankful for it because now because I’ve grown so much and been able to push myself much more with my songs.”

“Beautiful People”, a celebration of uniqueness, sexuality and ability to love, was the first taster of Burman’s new music to be shared back in May. Perhaps her most personal song to date, it sees her putting pen to paper about being queer for the first time. Its accompanying music video, shot with Molly’s friends at the local pub, flows with a joyful undercurrent and it’s a song that sets the tone for the remainder of her EP. “I didn’t realise I was queer until I was 19, so it’s been very recent for me,” Burman explains. “I also realised that all of the songs I had out at that time were about men – literally all of them! So, I wanted to write something positive about being queer. I was going through a bit of a mad identity crisis where I felt like I literally fancied everyone. So, writing this was a really liberating process for me as it resonated so much with how I felt.”

Her latest release “Potential” takes things in a different direction “It’s a bit heavier, even a bit of a headbanger,” Burman describes. “I showed it to my dad, and he was like ‘you’ve gone all these years saying that you don’t like distortion on guitar, and you come back with this?’ I replied ‘yeah, maybe I do like it actually!’” Swapping shiny melodies for grungy guitars, Burman felt that approaching the track in a new way allowed her to “unlock” new emotions and loosen any shackles of expectation for her to stick solely to one sound. “My music falls under the alt/indie/pop sphere, but I hate how broad that all can be,” she say. “Nobody listens to just one type of music; everyone likes something from everywhere. I’m not just going to make music that’s one style – that’d be boring otherwise.”

Juggling multiple jobs is the stark reality for many creatives looking to sustain their artistic pursuits. Molly Burman is no exception to this. However, her capacity to dream of big things to come and the eventual reality of it happening are closer to aligning now more than ever. “Firstly, being able to quit my part-time jobs would be amazing,” she grins. “Being able to perform to some of the biggest crowds ever, that would be insane. But really, I’m excited to hear all of the songs that I haven’t made yet. This is just literally all I’ve wanted to do and I’m excited to live out that dream.”