We’ve written about Molly Drag, the recording project of Michael Charles Hansford, a few times in the past, and if there is common thread through the music then it is one of melancholy. Debut album Deeply Flawed offered what we called “wistful angst interspersed with anger or terror and sometimes followed by a clear-eyed calm,” while following single ‘Open Casket Hidden Meaning’ took death head on:
The song, inspired by the first open casket funeral he attended as a child, as well as the death of his first dog, Noah. As you might expect, the sound is sad and remorseful in a child-like sort of way, the existential anxiety of adults not yet formed so that his grief can occupy a pure, selfless sort of level.
Subsequent albums like Tethered Rendering, Whatever Reason and last year’s Thumper doubled down on the sad vulnerability, working emo sensibilities through fogged, weary soundscapes. With each release came a newly developed outlook, Molly Drag serving as a lesson in craft as Hansford worked on new ways to bring his visions and feelings to life. The result grew more succinct and atmospheric as time went on, the pain and nostalgic longing presented in a way that might just allow in some rays of light.
The forthcoming record, Touchstone, might just be the album where the light finally begins to overwhelm the darkness, signalling a new dawn for Molly Drag. “Touchstone feels like the beginning of a new segment for this project I started five years ago,” Hansford told The FADER, who premiered the new single. “It’s not as gloomy as it once was. Personally I’ve noticed a lot of things around me change and how I react to my surroundings. I definitely am a lot happier than I use to be whilst recording this record. Everything seems clearer now.”
All we have to go on for now in lead single ‘Out Like a Light’, and though the video (created by Elijah Zimmerman) is suitably morose, there is something in the sound that suggests a change, however subtle, is underway. The guitar still sounds stark and lonely, but offers a gentle glow, like a lamp in an empty room. When the animation in the video suddenly blooms into technicolor, you realise that the song sounds warm and, dare I say it, hopeful.
Touchstone is out on the 4th October via EggHunt Records and you can pre-order it now.
