MOLLY PAYTON SHARES LATEST SINGLE ‘JANUARY SUMMERS’ NEW MINI-ALBUM SLACK OUT THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1 VIA THE ORCHARD

Molly Payton releases ‘January Summers’, the latest offering from her forthcoming mini-album Slack, out Friday October 1 via The Orchard. LISTEN TO ‘JANUARY SUMMERS’ HERE.

The London-based 20-year-old has recently returned from a long stint in her homeland of Aotearoa / New Zealand, where she created Slack remotely with her frequent collaborator Oli Barton-Wood (Nilüfer Yanya, Porridge Radio, Sorry), as well as Grammy-award winning producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse) and British songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich. She is set to play upcoming festivals including Liverpool Sound City, Pitchfork Music Festival Paris and Amsterdam’s London Calling, as well as joining Oscar Lang on his October UK tour.

Of the new single, Molly comments: “I wrote January Summers near the end of last year when I was missing New Zealand and all of the people I’d been close with before I moved to the UK. I was initially just wanting to write this joyous ode to being 15/16 and doing everything for the first time. Going to your first party, the first time you hear your favourite song, the first time you tell someone you like them and so on. Even musically I pulled influence from bands that my big brother used to play when he was driving me places at that age, like the really messy surf-rock guitars and simple happy melodies. But it ended up also being about how complicated everything becomes the older you get – How I miss the joy and anticipation that came with the lack of direction I had when I was younger”.

‘January Summers‘ follows earlier singles set to appear on the coming mini-album, including ‘Honey’ (recently BBC Radio 1 Introducing’s track of the week), ‘You Cut Me So Much Slack’, and ‘When Skies Were Always Blue’. Slack follows Molly’s breakout EP Porcupine, released last Autumn to wide critical acclaim, including Pigeons & Planes, Dork, The Line of Best Fit, Steve Lamacq at 6Music and Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1. It also caught the ears of fellow artists, including Arlo Parks, who chose Molly to appear alongside her takeover of Spotify’s ‘Our Generation’ playlist, commenting of Molly’s music “there was just this sense of rawness and earnestness that really reminded me of things that I’ve lived myself”.

Slack was largely completed during Molly’s return to her homeland of Aotearoa / New Zealand, which she left at age 16 to move to the UK. Originally intended to be a short stay, her visit there was extended to an eight-month stay as UK lockdowns prevailed. As well as spending time with the friends and places she left as a teenager, it also fuelled her resolution to reconnect with the memories and tribulations of her past, and process them through her songwriting. Revolving around  the adage of looking back in order to move forward, she describes her coming output as “honest, reflective and hopeful.” Her time back home also allowed her to rediscover the catharsis of playing live, with Molly performing a series of full-capacity headline gigs against the backdrop of Aotearoa / New Zealand’s low Covid rates and eased restrictions.

‘January Summers’ is out now, buy/stream it here.