Beguiling whistler Molly Lewis announces her debut album, On The Lips out February 16 via Jagjaguwar. Lewis is slated to enchant audiences at Tāmaki Makaurau’s multi-venue music festival, The Others Way Festival on December 1st. Secure your tickets at Banishedmusic.com.
Over the past year, Molly soundtracked one of Barbie’s most emotional scenes alongside Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, lent her singular talents to fashion houses like Chanel, Gucci, and Hermes, and supported Weyes Blood on tour. Now, on her forthcoming debut full length album, the world builder par excellence conjures up visions of classic Hollywood jazz clubs, Italian cinema soundtracks and lingering embraces between lovers.
Alongside today’s announcement, is the release of single “Lounge Lizard” and its music video directed by Ambar Navarro and conceptualized by Molly, inspired by Julie London’s apparition in 1956’s The Girl Can’t Help It.
Molly says of “Lounge Lizard,”
“Wherever you happen to be, I’d like you to let this song soundtrack the next few minutes of your life. I hope that it accentuates your surroundings, gently transforming them into the sonic equivalent of having a personal sax player serenade you from the bath.”
On The Lips was recorded with producer Thomas Brenneck (Menahan Street Band, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse) at Diamond West Studios in Pasadena. With something of an open door policy during the sessions, a stream of acclaimed musicians joined Molly across the album’s 10 tracks, including Nick Hakim, Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Rogê, Leland Whitty and Chester Hansen of Badbadnotgood, Chicano soul group Thee Sacred Souls on the melancholy “Crushed Velvet,” experimental jazz pianist Marco Benevento and El Michels Affair’s Leon Michels. The album features two covers: Dave Berry’s 1960s pop standard “The Crying Game” and Jeanette’s “Porque Te Vas” from 1974.
LA-based, Australia-born Molly’s love for this smoky corner of the world doesn’t end with her songwriting. She is a devotee and an archivist, capturing and enlivening the pieces that endure. She was a regular at the legendary shows by Marty and Elayne, the lounge duo well known for appearing in Swingers who spent almost 40 years playing LA’s Dresden bar; and she celebrates her dear friend, the poet and former drinking buddy of Charles Bukowski, Kenneth ‘Sonny’ Donato on swooning track “Sonny” after first meeting him at Hollywood’s iconic Musso and Frank. She got her start first by winning the 2015 Masters of Musical Whistling competition then with a turn at an open mic at the Kibitz Room, a tiny late-night bar inside historic LA deli Canter’s before curating her Café Molly show series accompanied by friends and fans including John C. Reilly, Karen O, Mac DeMarco. Molly’s debut full length follows her pair of critically acclaimed recent EPs that earned profiles in New York Times, NPR Morning Edition and CBS Sunday Morning.
Now, with On The Lips, Molly is set to join her heroes in the storied lore of the Los Angeles lounge scene and well beyond.
On The Lips Tracklist:
- On The Lips
- Lounge Lizard
- Crushed Velvet
- Slinky
- Moon Tan
- Silhouette
- Porque Te Vas
- Cocosette
- Sonny
- The Crying Game
Molly Lewis On The Web:
