A few months back I got a friend request over at VIRB (a cleaner, less cluttered MySpace-esque social network) from a random girl with a couple of songs on her profile. Usually I don’t give friend requests from artists I’ve never heard much thought or attention, but for some reason, which could probably be only be interpreted as divine intervention or something of the sort, I decided to give this girl’s music a chance, and I fell in love with it.

She had no record deal, and was just a girl who wrote songs and performed them at local clubs, and it was the desire to share the music made by this girl that gave birth to the idea of Silent Sound Waves.

In between the months that separate then and now, this blog has gone from idea to reality, and the girl who inspired it has put out a self-released EP, which has been regularly playing on my iPod, had her music featured on one of today’s most popular TV-series, One Tree Hill, published a few new songs online and done a terrific job of promoting and making a name for herself in the online music scene. Our second featured fresh wave that you should keep a lookout for is Molly Marlette - a 21 year old singer/songwriter from Southern California who you will be hearing a lot from in the future.

Imagine meaningful, relatable and clever lyrics mixed with catchy melodies, unforgettable hooks and a pleasant and soothing voice. Can you hear it in your mind? If not you can just check out some of Molly Marlette’s songs. A good place to start would be her debut EP, The Allumette, initially self-released through CD Baby, but now also available along with her latest single The Dandelion Waltz from iTunes. It contains six memorable and unique tunes, starting with the conspicuously innocent declaration of how Sleep Must Heal The Heart which documents the whirlpool of feelings that surround a love affair gone bad.

Constantly is the second song on the EP, and my personal favourite if I had to choose. Lyrically it deals with many of the same issues as the opening track including the fear of change and difficulties of finding your place in all of these things that seem to consitute our lives. Combined with the the alluring sound of the piano and subtle percussion it’s obvious hit material. The third track, Over Reactions, follows in the same path and does it well, while the second half of the EP contains the title track, How Does That Sound and It’s Time, and all three back up our initial impression that we can expect great things from Marlette in the future.

Recently she has released a couple of new songs online, one of them being the already mentioned single The Dandelion Waltz which can be bought from iTunes, Windy Streets which you can see her perform on her porch below, as well as Looking Down On, Don’t Stay Away, There’s No Telling and Under The Mantel, all of which you can see her perform on that same porch over at her YouTube channel. While the sound-quality of the YouTube recordings leave something to be desired, all of these songs seem to live up to the standard Molly Marlette set for herself with The Allumette, and I would be surprised if she hasn’t been picked up by a label this time next year.

If you like what you saw in that video, you can check out more of Molly’s music at her VIRB and MySpace profiles, as well as her official website. Be sure to let her know that you appreciate it, and support her and her career as an artist by purchasing her music either through iTunes or CD Baby. And if you have the chance, go catch one of her live shows as she performs quite frequently at clubs in the Los Angeles area.

/ Posted: Dec 04, 2008
/ Written by: Lars-Christian
/ Category: Fresh Waves
/ Artist(s): Molly Marlette