Molly Trueman’s Angels & Aliens debut hits hard, and leaves everyone who listens to it showered in goosebumps.
Montreal-based and inspired by the likes of Lizzy McAlpine, Japanese Breakfast, and Radiohead, Molly Trueman has a unique ability to make you feel truly alive.
Angels & Aliens is the singer’s first album, taking you on a ten-track journey of angsty vulnerability.
Its title is a true testament to what you can expect; a lyrical portrait of things both beautiful and unique, both unknown and unexpected.
Layered with strings, guitar melodies and stunning vocals, the album presents an honest transparency that will leave you feeling moved and inspired.
It opens with ‘Across The Planets’, a nearly five-minute, softly-sung and string-filled ballad that stirs a positivity within. A perfect opener to the album, this clear standout and personal favourite will leave you feeling both nostalgic and optimistic.
‘Spring In My Step’ follows with an aching sense of vibrancy, and was released as a single earlier in the year. The song opens with Trueman singing, “Rip a page out from my brain/Save me from trying to explain,” perfectly capturing the burning desire to be understood.
Taking a melancholic approach with ‘Hungover’, Trueman begs for someone to “calm the beating in my head.” With layered vocals and whining strings, it exemplifies an ability to make music that is still so beautiful even in its sombreness.
The idea of being hungover seems almost romantic through its soft vocals and sliding strings.
“Found Me At The Wrong Time” showcases a dynamic Trueman, reminiscent of a Phoebe Bridgers song with its sweetly sung lyrics about something not working out as you hoped. “Don’t get addicted, I warned you / You found me at the wrong time,” she sings.
‘Dream Song’ offers a Clairo-esque, softly strummed painting of the inner workings of the dreamscapes in Trueman’s mind. With descriptions of rubble, light pollution and an unassuming devil, she implores “If I sleep through the night, leave me with the words to write it all down.”
Trueman then taps into a deeper and darker side of her artistry with the nearly six-minute track, ‘Without You Without Me’. With overlapping strings and vocals, the lyrics to this track are haunting, and it feels almost as if Trueman is revealing an interpersonal addiction.
Perhaps the most chilling of all her vocals on the album, it’s a slow burn set within a nervous atmosphere.
‘Lungs’ takes you through the complexity of being in love, and all the painful parts that come along with it. Trueman touches on feeling stupid, vague and out of your mind, and likens patience to pulling teeth in that dizzying period of crushing on someone.
‘Stranger’ explores the undesired path of where ‘Lungs’ can lead, telling the story of someone who very clearly is not a stranger to Trueman. “Could’ve sworn I was starting to figure you out/But right now you’re just a stranger to me,” she sings.
‘I Won’t Sleep Soundly’ is a beautifully stripped down song that sees Trueman inspiring change in her listeners. With the repeating lyrics of, “We are the world”, this track will leave you with an ongoing sense of motivation and a desire to get up and go.
The final track, ‘Shadow Parade’, offers a gentle conclusion to the album, a soft farewell from Trueman to her audience. “Promise me that you’ll stay/Stay a part of me,” she sings, as you hear her fingers sliding across the fretboard of her acoustic guitar.
The whole album is a subtle work of art, as soft-spoken as poetry yet infused with hard-hitting lyricism.
Angels & Aliens is a truly exceptional effort, making it hard to believe that this is Trueman’s first album.
Listen to Angels & Aliens below.
