Photo Credit: Olivia Repaci
TRACKLIST
Foreign Accent
Me and My Denial
380
June
Bleach
Healing
Young singer/songwriter Molly Millington from New South Wales, Australia introduces her debut EP, "5 Stages". Molly has been out on the music scene since 2020 when she released her first single, "Circus Animal". Throughout the past few years, she's continuously released singles and recently finished her first ever headlining tour. Molly has a wide variety of musical influences ranging from pop, to rock, to country in which she blended to create her own distinct sound. Molly is a unique person who is fearlessly herself. She sets herself apart from others by being completely honest and raw within her music. Her pure, emotional songwriting style is something that draws people in because they can relate to her so well. Featuring singles like "Foreign Accent", "Bleach" and the most recently, "Healing", Molly's brand new EP "5 Stages" was written within just a handful of days. Inspired by the personal experience of love and loss, the EP tells a story of the five stages of grieve - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Produced by ARIA nominated producer Xavier Dunn, "5 Stages" is a flawless project that anyone can enjoy, regardless of your personal music preferences.
Photo Credit: Olivia Repaci
Foreign Accent
Starting with track one, we have "Foreign Accent" which was the first single from the EP. This song gives us an idea of what Molly was going through before starting the grieving process within the rest of the tracks. About a short but serious relationship Molly had encountered while visiting the United States, "Foreign Accent" is a groovy pop rock song with a melody you'll have stuck in your head the rest of the week. It sounds a bit like a song you'd hear play at the beginning of an early-2000's romance movie. Singing of falling for an American stranger while in Brooklyn, New York, this track is only preparing you for Molly's incredible lyricism and story-telling. She only hopes that this new found love will be everything she's ever wanted, even though the odds are against her favor.
Me and My Denial
In track two, we enter phase one of the grieving process - denial. Perfectly enough, the track is titled "Me and My Denial". Molly admits in this song that she uses denial as a coping mechanism to keep her from losing her mind. Sometimes rather suppress feelings and put things off than to face them and admit there's an issue. This is something many of us can relate to when we're just not mentally ready to face the facts. Molly goes on to sing the words "this is why my problems don't get solved" within the incredibly catchy hook. This song talks about a very serious feeling that probably everyone has felt, but the music itself is very upbeat and fun-loving. The bass and rhythm are really uplifting and danceable. It makes the song a bit more light-hearted.
380
*Trigger Warning* - Gun Violence
For stage two of grief we have track three which is the angry song, "380". Molly wrote this song about how mad she is about nobody doing anything to change the gun violence and to protect children from school shootings within America. It angers her that people can be so careless with other's lives and act like it's not a major issue that needs addressed. This song gave me chills and goosebumps all over my body. At first, the song dynamically screams anger with it's heavy pop rock instrumentation and distorted vocal effects. As the song goes on, the dynamic changes to a softer section that is bone chilling before become hard and strong again. The progression, emotion, and lyrics in this song were brilliantly done. It's one of those songs that punch you in the face when you least expect it. This track really took Molly's sound sonically to a whole new level.
June
Moving on to phase three, we have bargaining. The track for this stage is "June", a song about bargaining your own well-being and self-worth by being in a relationship with someone who is super toxic. They radiate negative energy and you realize just how much happier you were when they weren't in your life. Molly compares how her left felt like summertime before this person came into her life; and how she's afraid of turning cold like them if she stays around too long because of the way they bring her down. You can hear a bit of country twang within the soundscape of this song. It's very beautifully written; it is sonically delicate and easy on the ears. It's a bigger switch up from the styles on the other tracks, but in really nice, refreshing way.
Bleach
Stage 4 is one of the hardest grief stages of all; the depression phase. Along with this stage comes track 5, "Bleach". Not gonna lie, this song is sad both musically and lyrically. It's emotionally beautiful, and if you've ever been in a similar situation, you could find some peace in knowing you're not alone here. Let's just say, this song is lyrically one of the best I've heard this year. It's about that kind of heartbreak that feels unamendable at the time; when you've given somebody your all until you had nothing left, and all they ever did was make you feel like you didn't deserve any of it back. Unreciprocated love is one of the hardest things to go through when breaking up. It makes you feel like you just weren't good enough - until you finally have the realization that you were never the problem; they were. In "Bleach", Molly is just spilling out words like no one is listening. She releases all of her pain and says everything she needs to in order to move on.
Healing
Speaking of moving on, the last stage of grief and the most important one in my opinion, is acceptance. After all the pent up anger and sadness is finally released, you're able to find peace with the situation and go on to do bigger and better things. The last track to end the "5 Stages" EP is Molly's most recent single, "Healing". During a morning writing session, Molly finished the first half of this song just to later on improvise the rest. All her thoughts and feelings spilled out into a magnificent song. She considered the process in writing this song to, literally, be healing for her own grieving process she was going through at the time. "Healing" not only has master lyricism, but it has a progression and build that really puts the concept of healing into perspective. The soundscape is modern pop with the essence of some 80's rock which gives the song a little extra rawness.
Molly Millington is a force to be reckoned with. She refuses to put a label on her style and it's rightfully so. Each song she comes out with is a whole new, different experience. Her versality, relatability and uniqueness make for a discography that anyone can listen to. "5 Stages" was a beautifully done concept project that accurately took each stage of grief and gave it a sound. You can feel that it's a very personal collection of songs that Molly put her all into. Each track is so sonically detailed and full of emotion that you can't catch everything on your first listen. You have to play it on repeat to really get the full experience and admire the depth that went into every song. "5 Stages" is Molly's debut EP but she has many other singles you can listen to from the past few years. Make sure to check out her socials below and don't miss out on what's next to come!
Written By Kaitlyn Nicole
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