Developing American pop artist, Molly Burch, releases her latest album Daydreamer on September 29. She has dedicated this album to her 13-year-old self, and to her younger listeners who may resonate with her lyrics.
Being compared to Maisie Peters, Laura Mvula and Carly Rae Jepsen, Burch’s music focuses on the themes of love and longing. Daydreamer explores these themes even more intensely. Burch reaches into the depths of her soul to sing about her old secrets and anxieties that she couldn’t talk about.
Creating Daydreamer
Daydreamer has a heart wrenching back story. Burch had visited her childhood home in Austin. While looking through her old things she found her diaries from when she was younger. Her diaries were full of memories of her childhood years when she struggled with body dysmorphia, self-hatred and shyness.
Luckily, her sister realised how talented Burch was and pushed her to go out of her comfort zone and pursue singing.
This album is a way of moving on for Burch. After reading her old thoughts she realised how cruel she was to her past self, but also how she still has some of these negative thoughts now.
On the musical side, Daydreamer has a sharper and cleaner production approach than her previous work. This album was produced by Jack Tatum (Wild Nothing).
“I had worked with Jack before on our co-written song Emotion that we put out in 2020,” Burch said. “When deciding who would produce Daydreamer I knew I wanted it to be Jack as soon as I started writing. We have similar taste and sensibilities and I look up to him so much.”
Daydreamer review
Made of Glass sets the tone for this heavy-topic pop album. A mix of pop beats meet melancholy strings as Burch introduces us to Daydreamer. She sings about how she pictures herself “all grown and confident” but doubts that she’ll “ever be that woman”. The lyrics “be careful I’m so fragile” reminds us of how personal this album is to Burch.
Physical brings us sci-fi 80s vibes as Burch sings about her struggles with PMS. This was the first piece that Burch and Tatum worked on together. It paves the way for the rest of the album.
Baby Watch My Tears Dry is another 80s-influenced track that reminds us of Burch’s struggles with self-doubt and negative thoughts. “I over-think like it’s my job, trying to please everyone” is a lyric I’m sure many listeners who suffer with self-doubt will relate to.
By far the most emotional track on Daydreamer is Tattoo. It is an ode to Burch’s late best friend who took her own life in 2009. The ballad is sprinkled with sweeping harp strings and back-up vocals from Hannah Kim (Luna Li). Truly a heartbreaking song that will resonate with listeners about the loss of loved ones.
Unconditional talks about the pain of unrequited love and is followed by Heartburn which acts as a next step in the story. Heartburn tells us how Burch “doesn’t wanna waste” her time, as if she is moving on from her heartbreak in this track.
The final track, Bed, is about Burch’s story that led to the creation of Daydreamer. She questions if she has changed from her 13-year-old self that wrote in those diaries. Burch plays on the phrase “you’ve made your bed now lie in it” in this track, she says, “this is me taking responsibility for my current state in life, acknowledging my past, while moving forward with a newfound appreciation for my journey.”
Final thoughts
Burch has crafted a beautifully thought-out album with Daydreamer. She has gotten her themes and messages across clearly, and is obviously more comfortable in developing herself and her sound as an artist. The exploration of herself gives this album an air of honestly. She is baring her soul to the world and that takes serious courage. Younger listeners will certainly relate to many of the messages in this album, and so will adult who have has similar childhoods.
Featured Image Credit: @mollyjburch / Instagram
Second year student journalist studying Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Writer for Brig and Discovery Music, Chief Sub Editor for Brig
