Molly Alice Smitten-Downes (born 2 April 1985), known by her

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

Molly, is an English singer and songwriter.

Early life

Born in

Anstey, Leicestershire Anstey is a large village in Leicestershire, England, located north west of Leicester in the borough of Charnwood (borough), Charnwood. Its population was 7,697 at the 2021 census. This figure is expected to increase due to the building of a ...

, Molly grew up in

Rothley Rothley ( ) is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. Situated around west of the River Soar and north of Leicester, it had a population of 3,612 inhabitants . The population measured at the 20 ...

and attended Our Lady's Convent School in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

. She began starring in stage productions from the age of eight. She studied music at

Leicester College Leicester College is a further education college in Leicester, England. It is one of the largest colleges in the UK, with more than 26,000 students, 1,600 staff, plus an annual budget of over £50million. It has three main campuses in the ci ...

and at the

Academy of Contemporary Music The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy in with campuses in Guildford, Surrey, Birmingham, and London, England providing contemporary music-based courses. The school of music has a focus on rock, pop music, electronic da ...

in Guildford, Surrey.

Career

2005–10: Stunt

Molly was a member of the British dance music project

Stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...

, who achieved chart success in 2008 with their collaboration

mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

track "

Raindrops (Encore une fois) "Raindrops" is a dance music song released in 2006 by the British production team Stunt. Produced in Canada by Dave Valler and Gary Johnson, it reached number 8 in Finland. At least six different mixes have been released. Lyrically, "Raindrops" c ...

" with

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/ production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums ...

, combining songs " Raindrops" (2006) and " Encore une fois" (1997). In 2009, Smitten-Downes teamed with Swedish producer and singer/songwriter

Basshunter Jonas Erik Altberg (; born 22 December 1984), known professionally as Basshunter, is a Swedish singer, record producer, songwriter and DJ. As indicated by his stage name, Basshunter is known for bass-heavy Eurodance music. Born and raised in Ha ...

, for the collaboration "I Will Learn to Love Again", which is featured on his second UK album ''

Bass Generation ''Bass Generation'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish musician Basshunter. It was first released on 28 September 2009, a week after the album's lead single " Every Morning". The album reached No. 2 in New Zealand and No. 7 in South Africa. B ...

''.

2011–13: Career beginnings

An acoustic EP ''Fly Away with Me'' was released on 18 December 2011. EP track "Shadows" was sampled by grime artist Marger and has been released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

through 360 Records (21 August 2011). "Beneath The Lights", her collaboration with Swedish producer Anders Hansson, was released in April 2013 with Anders' project Dream Beats. "Never Forget", her collaboration with producer

Darren Styles Darren James Mew (born 23 May 1975), better known as Darren Styles, is an English music producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Clacton-On-Sea, Essex. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found s ...

, was written and recorded in 2012.

2014: Eurovision Song Contest

After being supported and later put forward by

BBC Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

, Molly was approached by Guy Freeman, the executive producer and head of delegation of Eurovision for the BBC and asked if she would like to compose an entry for that year's contest. After initially saying 'I'm so flattered, but it's not for me’ on the grounds that it was not 'suitable' to her creatively, eventually Smitten-Downes was convinced by the prospect of being able to perform a self-penned work on a global stage. On 3 March 2014, the BBC announced that Molly would be representing the United Kingdom in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

with the song "

Children of the Universe A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

". Molly wrote "Children of the Universe" herself and has described her ambition to write music that "breaks down political barriers". Prior to the contest, Molly signed a record deal with

Warner Music UK Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

on 1 April 2014. On 4 April, Molly announced that she would release her song "

" on 28 April 2014. It was made available for digital download on

from 15 April. The song was recorded in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden with a 28-piece orchestra and produced by Anders Hansson. The official video for the entry was released on YouTube on 23 April 2014. The following day, Molly appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo. However at the Eurovision final on 10 May 2014, she was regarded as a front-runner and one of the favourites to win the show. Molly concluded the show performing last and the song was voted 17th (out of 26 entries) gaining 40 points.

2014–15: After Eurovision

On 5 June it was revealed that Molly would perform at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

on 27 June 2014. In 2015 she teamed up with German DJ and producer Zwette to make "Rush" which was released by

Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...

and remixed by

Sam Feldt Sammy Boeddha Renders (born 1 August 1993), known professionally as Sam Feldt, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and entrepreneur. Career Musical career In 2015, he released a remake of Robin S.' " Show Me Love". The track was released by Spin ...

. In September 2015, Molly performed "Rush" with

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's producer

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A founding member of th ...

sampled a remix of "Beneath the Lights" for "Shadows" from his album ''

Lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

''.

Honours and awards

Molly was awarded in 2012 the Best Urban/Pop Act at

Live and Unsigned Live and Unsigned is a music competition in the United Kingdom for unsigned bands and vocal groups to perform live for substantial prizes. It was founded 2007, and has attracted over 40,000 entrants annually since its inception. Competitors perfo ...

and in 2013 won Best Song at the Best of British Unsigned Music Awards. On 1 November 2014, she received an honorary award for her musical achievements at Leicester College where she completed a performing musician course in 2002.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smitten-Downes, Molly 1985 births Living people 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers English women singer-songwriters English women pop singers English dance musicians Warner Music Group artists Musicians from Leicestershire People from Anstey, Leicestershire Articles containing video clips Eurovision Song Contest entrants