Molly Ciara Burman is an English musician from

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

. She has released two EPs, ''Fool Me With Flattery'' and ''Worlds Within Worlds'', and is a member of

Loud LDN Loud LDN is a British collective of female and gender-expansive artists based in London. Formed in May 2022 by Coupdekat and Maisi as a WhatsApp group chat called Ladies Making Noise in London, the chat started off with ten members including P ...

. Her father, Lance Burman, was a member of

Chiefs of Relief Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group with a unique electro-punk style, punctuated by the guitar work of vocalist Matthew Ashman, and also featuring drummer Paul Cook. The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop and electronic elements from the ...

Life and career

Molly Ciara Burman was born in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

, before moving to

. Growing up, she listened to her parents' music, such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

, and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, and aged six, she and her father wrote a Christmas song together; she would resume writing again after listening to

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

's ''19'', and switched from writing on piano to writing on guitar after becoming obsessed with the Vamps. She and her father started producing tracks together when she was thirteen. She released her first single, "Happy Things" in 2018, took a break from music, and then resumed releasing music in 2021 after returning to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

and discovering that "Happy Things" had acquired a million listens on the platform. In March 2021, she released "Fool Me With Flattery", which she wrote using the stereotype of a

mansplaining ''Mansplaining'' (a blend word of ''man'' and the informal form ''splaining'' of the gerund ''explaining'') is a pejorative term meaning "(for a man) to comment on or explain something, to a woman, in a condescending, overconfident, and often ...

misogynist after a day of

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

from men in her life, having thought of the first lyric on the bus home and the rest in her room. The following month she released "Everytime", a song about learning to enjoy her own company following multiple instances of being ghosted, and in June 2021, she released "Debt", a riposte to a sex pest she encountered during a night out, which was accompanied by a music video. Later that year, she released the ''Fool Me With Flattery'' EP, which featured "Fool Me With Flattery", "Everytime", and "Debt", and was written, recorded, and produced by Burman and her father. In March 2022, she released "Pretty Girl", which she wrote after listening to " All the Pretty Girls" by Kaleo, and about feeling insecurities. In May 2023, she released "Beautiful People", a song about dating while

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

, having realised that she was attracted to all genders aged 19 after listening to her queer friends' playlists and watching ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'', and having realised that all of her songs to that point had been about men. A video was shot for the song using her friends from her local pub, the Faltering Fallback. She then released "Potential", a

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

song about seeing a partner for what they were instead of what they could be. In August 2023, she released ''Worlds Within Worlds'', a six-track EP, named after the notion that everyone has their own solar system, and with each track set on a different planet of MollyLand; the song was promoted with the lead track "Friday Pretty", which was written about her local pub quiz, and included it, "Beautiful People", and "Potential". In 2024, she began performing as one fifth of Molly & The Dolly Shop.

Artistry and personal life

Burman's music has been described as

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

by ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' and as

alt-pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

by '' Clash''. Her ''Fool Me With Flattery'' EP was influenced by

Maxi Priest Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...

's "Love Train",

's " Magic Dance", Shirley & Company's " Shame Shame Shame",

Lucius Lucius is a masculine given name derived from Lucius (Latin ; ), abbreviated L., one of the small group of common Latin forenames () found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius probably derives from Latin word ( gen. ), meaning "light" (<

's "Until We Get There", and

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two 2 ...

's " Settle Down". Burman's grandfather was the director for the London Vintage Jazz Orchestra Dave Burman, her mother is an Irish singer who sang with

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 195730 November 2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, whic ...

and as part of the singing comedy act The Frigidaires, and her father was Lancelot Andrew Robert "Lance" Burman, a guitar teacher, who played bass for

, and played bass and guitar on Mekon and

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

's " Please Stay", a cover of the Cryin' Shames' song, which charted at No. 91 on the UK Singles Chart. She is a member of

, a collective of London-based women and genderqueer musicians set up in May 2022, which she joined a month after it was created.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burman, Molly 2001 births Living people Musicians from the London Borough of Haringey British indie pop musicians People from Hornsey People from Kentish Town