Molly Burch - ‘Daydreamer’ | Album Review
October 16 | Written By Evelyn Burr
Ethereal songstress Molly Burch returns to our playlists with an album that is deeply personal and yet speaks to the Daydreamer in all of us. Inspired by Burch’s discovery of her childhood diaries, filled with the scribblings of her thirteen-year-old self, the album is an introspective ode to vulnerability, love and loss.
The LA-based singer-songwriter treads new instrumental ground with her newest album, teaming up with Jack Turner for some shimmering, synth-infused pop production. Lustrous string sections, like those adorning the opening track Made of Glass, give the album an anthemic feel in parts. Fans of Burch’s past work will find familiarity, though, in her yearning lyrics and smoky vocal style that float effortlessly across this album’s 10-track run. The title Daydreamer really couldn’t be more fitting; the album feels like the escaped musings from Burch’s dream state.
The album’s lead single Physical is a silky mid-tempo jam about Burch’s struggles with PMS. The track sees Burch unapologetically embrace life’s low points, with the line ‘I’m not the one-dimensional girl of your mind / I’m a literal woman moving through life’ standing in defiance against the unattainable expectations that are internalised by many women. Similar themes are explored in Beauty Rest nearer the album’s close, with Burch lamenting the pursuit of perfection and ‘too many people trying their best’ in the world.
The ballad Tattoo is a tribute to a friend lost to suicide, with a piano-driven instrumental accompanying Burch’s hauntingly beautiful vocals. Her high notes here are in equal parts graceful and grief-ridden, and provide even greater emotional depth to a record that is profoundly introspective from front to back.
The tracks Unconditional and Heartburn offer some laid-back disco detours while retaining the lyrical poise that Burch displays earlier on in the album. The groovy guitar solo on the former track, and the soaring string section that plays out the latter, provide some great dance-break moments that demand glittery outfits and a disco hall. Burch’s ability to articulate the feelings of heartache and longing in these vibrant 80s jams highlight her growth as a lyricist and songwriter since her 2017 debut.
Bed ties up the album’s retrospective journey and sees Burch look to the future. The song dances in feelings self-doubt as Burch looks back on her thirteen-year-old self, and ultimately concludes in a place of self acceptance: ‘I’ve been thinking too much / Need to reassess my expectations’… ‘I wanna make my bed / Then I wanna lie in it’.
It’s an album for our past-selves, our current selves and the people we daydream of being. Burch’s Daydreamer is a trip through the modern mind, with a sultry pop sound that will make you dance on the journey.
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