Molly Rymer has released her debut EP ‘All You Can Eat’.
A culmination of the past two years of performances, discovery, networking and writing, the six-track EP features the work of three different producers – Finlay Vallance, Edmund Allen, and Matt Dunwell.
Speaking of the EP, Molly said: “A couple of years ago, a friend told me that if I wanted to have a real go at making a career in music I should give myself five years. I don’t think I understood at the time just how little I really knew about the industry…So, this EP is a culmination of how I got here. Not only a documentation of songs I’ve written, but people I’ve met who are now an integral part of my experience of the Leeds music scene.”
To celebrate her EP release, Molly shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘All You Can Eat’.
Matilda Mann -Stranger (For Now)
In particular, Matilda Mann was a big lyrical inspiration for the second track on the project ‘Something That Survives’, which I decided to write about Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag after learning this track was written about Jim and Pam from the US Office. Whilst it’s not particularly obvious that this is the case in either track, learning about Mann’s song really challenged me to look outside myself and write about something I hadn’t really fully experienced… and now it’s one of my favourite tracks on the whole EP!
Lizzy McAlpine – I Guess
So much of my writing over the last couple of years has been influenced by the incredible Lizzy McAlpine. I am just in awe of the way she uses such tiny, mundane details and metaphors in her storytelling to ground them, in all their grand ideas of heartbreak and romance, in the realities of life. There are a few of her songs that influenced the EP – from the darker, more electronic ‘Erase Me’ to songs that feel more introspective, like this one. The production style used on her latest album in particular really lends itself to that feeling of intimacy I wanted to run throughout this project.
Stacey Ryan – Fall In Love Alone
Writing “happy/fun” songs hasn’t always been my forte, but I listen to A LOT of upbeat, hopeful music (unless it’s raining, and then there’s no excuse not to listen to Lizzy and stare out the window). In a bid to try and break out of my comfort zone over the last couple of years, I started learning different guitar melodies to more upbeat songs I liked (like this one) and then re-moulding them into something of my own… After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?
Olivia Dean – Float
A lot of my influences for the EP were just fragments of songs that I love.. so, whilst I wouldn’t say Olivia Dean’s work is an obvious blueprint for any of the tracks of this project, the impact of her music exists in the layered, soulful backing vocals that colour the movements of this EP. Again, there’s an intimacy to Dean’s performance that’s so important to me in my own writing – a sense of raw honesty that I think she captures so beautifully and sincerely.
Fleetwood Mac – Gypsy
As the daughter of two soft-rock lovers, I grew up on a lot of music from the 70s and 80s, particularly bands like Guns N Roses, Thunder (one of my absolute favourites), Fleetwood Mac, and later this would turn into one of my undying loves, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters. Whilst this earlier era was notorious for powerful love ballads with a driving undercurrent, the dreamy backing vocals and swaying rhythms of Fleetwood Mac are what I think influences my music most closely today. Not that Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie couldn’t belt one out… because, I mean, come on.
Listen to Molly Rymer’s EP influences below:
Stream Molly Rymer ‘All You Can Eat’ via Spotify: