Molly and the Dolly Shop – Something About Hands
London’s straight talking rising artist Molly And The Dolly Shop has unveiled her brand new EP Something About Hands, out today.
Molly And The Dolly Shop is the creative world of singer, songwriter and artist Molly Burman. The Dolly Shop is an open invitation into the communities Molly has built around her music – from her bandmates and fans to her online audience and the queer community she is part of. At the heart of Molly’s songwriting is radical honesty and her music embraces the full spectrum of human emotion, creating space for vulnerability and connection. Through deeply relatable storytelling, she invites listeners to find comfort in knowing they’re not alone.
Her new EP, Something About Hands, is a collection of songs about people and their hands, physical or metaphorical, and how they can hurt and shape us.
Molly explains: “I was in the studio with Ed Nash, finishing up the last song on the EP, ‘People Pleaser,’ when I started daydreaming. Ed, noticing I wasn’t quite there, asked if I was okay. I told him I’d just realised all the songs on the EP were connected by hands: ‘Chokehold,’ the rough hands. ‘Too Sweet,’ the bloody hands. ‘Zen,’ the meditative hands. ‘Move Inside,’ the unwanted hands. And finally, ‘People Pleaser,’ all about washing your hands of responsibility.” Molly explains. “I later relayed the realisation to my manager and told him I wanted the EP name to be something about hands. He said “Well, that works.” At first I laughed, but after that, I couldn’t really think of a more fitting name.”
The opening track, ‘Chokehold’, immediately sets the tone, confronting the increasingly normalised practice of choking during sex and the complicated conversations around consent, intimacy and sexual expectations.
Sonically, the indie-leaning track is threaded with sprinkles of alt-rock and a subtle pop-punk edge. It’s an unflinching introduction to the project, confronting behaviours that are too often minimised, excused or kept behind closed doors. ‘People Pleaser’ explores the complicated reality of someone constantly putting other people’s needs before their own. Opening with a harmony-driven vocal, the track balances an instantly memorable sound with a deeply relatable message. Lyrically, it explores how being a people pleaser can feel like the easier option in the moment, while ultimately coming at the expense of your own wellbeing. Then comes ‘Too Sweet’, built around an irresistibly catchy guitar riff and a vocal performance that is both theatrical and gorgeously candid. The track sees Molly taking back her voice and reclaiming her power, turning frustration into something liberating. Representing a deliberate shedding of the ‘good girl’ image that society so often places on women, the track is an unapologetic feminist anthem at its core. ‘Zen’ offers a reflective yet cleverly humorous moment to the project. Its softer atmosphere creates space to step back and examine the dynamics of a relationship where one person will do almost anything to avoid admitting their own wrongdoing. ‘Move Inside’, is a stand-out, deeply personal song that has demonstrated Molly’s ability to spark conversation and emotional connection.
Molly uses this song, as she does with all of her songs, as a diary entry, powerfully and importantly discussing her own experience of sexual assault at the hands of someone she considered a friend. Molly could only write the track after years of processing an intensely traumatic experience. A raw, moving track, it stands as one of her most honest and emotionally powerful pieces of songwriting to date, and has captivated listeners through its honesty, offering comfort and connection to those who see their own experiences reflected in the lyrics.
Molly is a founding member of Loud LDN, a live community of likeminded musicians and artists that has become an exciting force within London’s emerging music scene, a collective that includes artists like Piri, Nxadia, DellaXOZ, Caity Baser and Nieve Ella, and is committed to championing greater inclusivity across the music industry. She is also an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, mental health awareness and feminism, using both her platform and her art to spark meaningful conversations.
With support from DORK, DIY, CLASH, The Line of Best Fit, Wonderland and more, Molly And The Dolly Shop marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter – one that brings more people than ever into her world as she continues to share her music with audiences far and wide.
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