HEAR MOLLY LEWIS’ ‘BALCONY FOR TWO’ OFF DEBUT THE FORGOTTEN EDGE EP ON JAGJAGUWAR OUT JULY 2
Stream “Balcony For Two” // Pre-Order the EP
Molly Lewis – “Balcony For Two” (Streaming)
Molly Lewis is a globally renowned whistler hailing from Australia and currently based in Los Angeles.
On July 2, she readies her debut release, The Forgotten Edge EP, on Jagjaguwar. After previously sharing “Oceanic Feeling” and “The Forgotten Edge“, you can hear a new single – “Balcony For Two” – now.
“Balcony For Two” conjures your inner island getaway fantasies, just in time for the arrival of Summer. Woozy guitar rifts and organ supplement Molly’s whistling like a wave carrying a surfer to shore.
On The Forgotten Edge, Lewis ventures into the Exotica canon, sprawling, would-be Spaghetti Western scores, and a dash of Old Hollywood glamour. The EP is a salute to one of Lewis’s heroes, the Italian composer and musician Alessandro Alessandro Alessandroni, who’s whistle and guitar you hear on the title theme of Ennio Morricone’s A Fistful of Dollars. That Old Hollywood flavor was especially present at Lewis’s Café Molly events in Los Angeles, a series of soirées that have become fabled, elegant happenings with appearances from guests like John C. Reilly, Karen O and Mac DeMarco.
“Oceanic Feeling” (Watch // Stream)
Lewis’ love for whistling began when, around the age of twelve, she was given the CD Steve “The Whistler” Herbst Whistles Broadway. Something contained in it clicked.
“It wasn’t that I was immediately obsessed, but I knew it was something I could do well,” Lewis said.
The daughter of a musician mother and a documentary filmmaker father who often focused his films on niche communities and topics, Lewis recalls watching a television documentary with her parents about The International Whistlers Convention in Louisburg, North Carolina.
“My dad said, ‘If you ever make it into the competition, I’ll take you there’,” Lewis said.
“The Forgotten Edge”
(YouTube // Apple // Spotify// Bandcamp)
Turns out, there was no bar to entry, just a small fee. And so several years later, she and her father traveled to the convention. New to the form, Lewis didn’t take home one of the bigger prizes, but they were awarded the prize for “Whistler who traveled the greatest distance.”
“We really just used the trip to drive around the United States,” she said.
Recorded with a crack team of friends and musicians during 2020’s quarantine, The Forgotten Edge is rife with incredible performances from Thomas Brenneck, Joe Harrison, Eric Hagstrom, Abe Rounds, Wayne Gordon, Gabriel Rowland, Leon Michels, and Dave Guy.
Molly Lewis – The Forgotten Edge EP
(Jagjaguwar, out July 2)
[Vinyl out Aug. 13]
Track Listing
- Oceanic Feeling
- Island Spell
- Balcony For Two
- The Forgotten Edge
- Satin Curtains
- Wind’s Lament