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Molly Nilsson

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Molly Nilsson
Nilsson in 2017
Nilsson in 2017
Background information
Born (1984-12-14) 14 December 1984 (age 39)
Stockholm, Sweden
Genres
Occupations
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active2007–present

Molly Lilly Maria Nilsson (born 14 December 1984)[1] is a Swedish singer-songwriter and musician. She is the owner of an independent record label, Dark Skies Association, founded in 2009. As of 2004, Nilsson resides in Berlin.[1]

Early life

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Nilsson is from Stockholm; she was born in Gröndal and grew up in Södermalm, in a non-musical family.[2][3] Both of her parents were communists.[4] She has described her father, a graphic designer, as her "biggest fan".[3]

In school, Nilsson had some piano lessons and a punk rock band with friends, where they "played a little bit", but mostly "just hung out".[4] Growing up, she listened to a lot of 1970s punk from the United Kingdom.[5] As a teenager, she sometimes worked as a DJ.[3]

She began her creative pursuits in comics and writing. Soon she began experimenting with a friend's keyboard and transitioned from visual media into songwriting.

Music

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Nilsson performing live in 2012.

Nilsson moved to Berlin to pursue music. She worked in the cloakroom of Berlin nightclub Berghain, while saving money to write songs on weekdays.[6] She released her first album in 2008 titled These Things Take Time, which she released on CD-R with just 500 copies. In 2009, she released another self-produced album, Europa. Nilsson gained more visibility in 2011 when her song "Hey Moon" from These Things Take Time, was covered by John Maus for his album We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves.[7] After releasing another album, Zenith, in 2015, Nilsson began a world tour.

Nilsson produces and performs her music on her own, though she co-releases much of her music on Dark Skies Association and Glasgow's Night School Records.[8] Nilsson's style features minimalist arrangements of synthesizers and drum beats and is often categorized as dark pop or lo-fi synth-pop.[9][10] She cites solitude as a necessary and important part of her creative process.[6] During live performances, Nilsson often sings over a CD of her own work.[6]

One of Nilsson's heroes is Polish socialist Rosa Luxemburg, the subject of Nilsson's song "Obnoxiously Talented". In an interview with Tribune magazine, she said: "[A]part from her work and legacy, I've really developed a relationship with Rosa Luxemburg on a human level. It's great to find people in history who can give you an example of what's possible, or how you can live your life, or what you should strive for."[4] Nilsson's album Extreme (2022), was released on the date of Luxemburg's death, 15 January.[11]

Discography

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Studio albums

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Extended plays

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Singles

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  • "Ugly Girl" / "Wrong Boy" (2016)
  • "About Somebody" / "Quit (In Time)" (2017)
  • "Hey Moon" / "Silver" (2021 – charity re-release for Black Lives Matter)

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Molly Nilsson.
  1. ^ a b Ritchie, Kevin (4 October 2012). "Press-shy Swedish songwriter opens up". Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. ^ Weirdo, Bobby (25 November 2018). "Molly Nilsson on New Album Twenty Twenty, The Importance of Context, and Excitement for the Next Decade". Weirdo Music Forever. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Katz, Juli (22 September 2019). "Molly Nilsson über ihre Musik: "Ich liebe Humor"". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Brown, Alexander (23 January 2023). "Molly Nilsson: 'Leave the Pessimism to Conservatives'". The Tribune. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  5. ^ Adam, Cherry (6 May 2019). "Entrevista a Molly Nilsson: "Es mejor, y a veces más constructivo, estar loco que triste."". Indienauta (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (5 November 2018). "Molly Nilsson: the synthpop star embracing hope and loneliness". The Guardian. London.
  7. ^ Sendra, Tim. "Molly Nilsson Artist Biography". AllMusic.
  8. ^ Mandel, Leah (25 October 2018). "Molly Nilsson's 'Twenty Twenty' Exposes The Fragments of Life". NPR.
  9. ^ Kemp, Sophie (13 September 2018). "Molly Nilsson "Days of Dust"". Pitchfork.
  10. ^ Mallon, Steve (23 March 2016). "Molly Nilsson: Planetary Vistas". Crack Magazine.
  11. ^ "Molly Nilsson: Extreme. The new album, coming January 2022. | Night School Records".
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