Top image: Molly Burch ‘Please Be Mine’ album artwork by Sascha Stannard. Photo Dailey Toliver

Listening to Molly Burch, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled upon an undiscovered songstress, some rare 60s gem. The Austin-based musician’s sound invokes that halcyon heyday, but with a flavour that’s absolutely her own.

Molly grew up in LA with a writer/producer father and a casting director mother and that California influence is clear in her debut album, Please Be Mine. From its shuffling, dusty pace to the surf-infused harmonies that star on the track Not Today, the album is as much a cinematic-feeling ode to the West Coast as it is a lyrical journey through the highs and lows of love – and what happens when you lay yourself bare to it. Molly’s heartfelt inflections add a raw honesty across all tracks, something she in the below interview explains is important to her.

Today, we’re premiering the official video for the LP’s title track, Please Be Mine. Directed and edited by Jordan Moser, the film perfectly encapsulates the track’s lovelorn tale of unrequited affection, Molly stalking the streets with a posy of roses and singing – at first on stage to a blacked out audience, then in front of a group of girls who watch in silence.

To mark the release, Molly has shared five things that have had a seismic impact on her. From the influence of the old Hollywood musicals she grew up with to the places she’s been and the current political climate, we get a glimpse into this raw talent’s world.

Music – Judy Garland
“I grew up watching her classic movies like everybody else, but it really only hit me later how special she was, and still is,” says Molly. “I love how she commands a room when she’s singing, she’s so grounded, you can feel that deep emotional well. The Man That Got Away from A Star Is Born, so beautiful! Such drama and simplicity. Definitely an inspiration as far as live performance, to let myself be vulnerable, give it everything.”

Film – The Last Picture Show, dir. Peter Bogdanovich 1971
“This is a beautiful Peter Bogdanovich movie that captures a lot of what I love about Texas. My dad showed it to me, he grew up in Dallas, and moving to Austin after college I think I still have with me some of these romantic associations. And it was absolutely an influence for this video, the small Texas town, the love triangle, something dusty about it.”

Art – Sascha Stannard
“I’m very lucky to call Sascha my friend, we went to high school together and then were roommates freshman year of college. She paints watercolours, they’re so pretty and delicate, they feel like memories. I was honoured when she agreed to paint the artwork for this album, it felt very right.”

Place – Amsterdam
“I went with my mom and sister a few years ago, we stayed right on the Brouwersgracht canal. Very calming. I’m so excited to be going back this summer [Molly is playing a gig in Amsterdam 12th June]. I love the bicycles, the food. Really it’s the closest to a perfect place that I’ve been, I would think. Inspiration everywhere.”

Experience – The Women’s March
“The election here was very traumatic, collectively, even in Texas I don’t know one person that voted for him, so to feel that hateful quality in the air, it’s been really sad and scary and there’s a long way to go,” says Molly. “But the march was the first moment since November that had some relief. We went to one in Austin, which was beautiful, but also knowing that my friends and family were scattered everywhere – LA, Atlanta, New York, and seeing those pictures. That was wonderful. We just have to keep it up.”

Molly Burch’s album ‘Please Be Mine’ is out now via Captured Tracks and she will be touring the US and EU through the Spring, head here for details.