Q&A: An Ode to Resilience and Temporality, Moli Says, “Bring on the Rain”
THERE’S SOMETHING TABOO ABOUT PERIODS — but in Moli’s new single, “Bring on the Rain,” she refuses to give into the shame. Instead, she pairs her experience with hormonal changes and her creative prowess to craft a vulnerable yet optimistic PMS anthem, inviting all of us to dance in the rain with her.
Sitting in her childhood bedroom, coming off a TV performance in Belgium, multi-hyphenate creative Moli explains how her move to Berlin shortly after high school expanded her experiences and in turn, her music. The open-minded nature of Berlin allowed her to express herself without the confines of familiarity and in the comfort of novelty, empowering her to lean fully into her artistry.
“Bring on the Rain” has all the melodic nature of soft ’80s rock while maintaining the catchiness and modernity of 2020 pop. Accompanying the rhythmic instrumentation are lyrics that aptly explore depression and anxiety, yet reminds us of our resilience. Moli began to notice negative changes in her mental health coinciding with her period shortly after she decided to stop taking the birth control pill. In these phases of darkness, she learned that everything passes, and found strength and healing in acknowledging the temporality of it all. With this single, she’s sharing with us that we are not alone and empowering us to do the same.
Keep reading below to explore the story of Moli’s new single and what we can expect from her next.
LUNA: Congratulations on your new single, “Bring on the Rain”! You’ve said you tend to write songs about romance and heartbreak. “Bring on the Rain,” however, pivots from that. Could you speak more to the experiences that inspired you to write this song and release it as a single?
MOLI: So I basically stopped taking the pill because it was messing me up, and I found myself going through these really dark phases where I was struggling to see anything in a positive light. I didn’t feel like myself anymore, and it would just hit me and be this big wave of emotions … I knew it would get better, but I just didn’t understand where it was all coming from. Then I did more research and found out I was having really bad PMS, PMDD.
“Bring on the Rain” came about [during] that time [when] I was trying to motivate myself and know that even when these phases hit me and I can’t do much about it, it’s just gonna happen regardless. Of course, there are things you can do with diet and things you can do to make it better, but there are still things that are just out of our control, and hormones changing is one of them. It was a reminder [that] regardless of how difficult things are now, things are going to get better and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It was about learning to embrace, as much as I can, that wave of emotions and go through it, go through the motions, and come out at the other end even better.
LUNA: Definitely, there is something healing about accepting what we can’t change. People who have periods are so often looked down upon for talking about these issues. How did you feel about broaching this topic?
MOLI: I was kind of anxious the first time I talked about it on social media because I just made a post explaining what was going on. I don’t know why I felt this feeling of shame somehow, but once I opened up about it I felt really good and other people reached out to me telling me they could relate and we gave each other tips and stuff. It just made me feel less alone and made the whole experience less lonely, and I realized it is so important to make these topics normal conversation and let it be something that everyone is comfortable talking about.
Something I found really helps me is make my schedule around it more. I’ve managed to talk to my team about it more, so if I’m having one of those phases and I feel like I can’t do anything at the moment and it’s not wise to have an important conversation, I will try to postpone the meeting or have it when things are a bit better. That’s something that should be normalized more and have more understanding. That way, we’re not making silly decisions just because you were in a weird phase in your hormones because every time it happens to me I feel like I'm going to quit everything and make the most stupid decisions. Then the minute it's over I'm like, “Why did I do that?”
LUNA: Yes, it’s so important to have community — there’s so much power in that. You were recently at Breaking Sound UK. Did you get a chance to sing “Bring on the Rain”? How was that experience?
MOLI: Yes, I did. It was the first time I played it live, at least with that set up because I had a guitar and tracks set up. It was really fun. I love it. I don’t really struggle with performing really emotional songs in general — I actually find it really empowering because it feels like I’m letting it all out. It’s not as nerve-wracking to me as [when] talking about it. If I have to talk about my emotions I'm like, “Aah,” but if I'm singing them it feels really liberating. So it was really fun.
LUNA: This song has definitely a bittersweetness to it. How was the process of writing this optimism into the songs different from your usual process?
MOLI: It was interesting — it’s true I tend to write negative stuff. This song was very empowering. It felt really good. It felt good to listen back to it and think, “Yeah, I can do this,” and it also felt good that I could give that to other people. Someone can relate to that and think this actually motivates me, and that’s all I want. It was a good experience and I want to write more about that.
LUNA: Of course, the song is about experiencing intense feelings because of PMS, so I’m curious: What’s something that brings you joy and comfort during those times?
MOLI: I mean, definitely food, but I try to avoid certain stuff that makes it worse. But I do love a good bar of dark chocolate. Also, yoga really helps, if I find the motivation to do it — it really helps. And listening to good podcasts.
LUNA: What podcasts have you been listening to?
MOLI: The guardian does a really good podcast called Today In Focus — I love listening to that to set up the day. There’s another podcast I really recommend called Sweet Bobby. It's this one story about a whole catfishing case — it’s a crazy one.
LUNA: Okay, dark chocolate, podcasts, and yoga — taking notes for myself. The second verse focuses on the theme of regret introduced in the first chorus. You say, “Stuck in a loop of last night / What I would do to hit rewind / and rewrite the chorus.” What inspired that motif?
MOLI: That's touching on my anxiety. When I'm in those phases I get really in my head about everything including my social interactions. For example, if I go out and I'm not really feeling myself the next morning I’m thinking, “Why did I say this?” I’m wanting to do it all again, and being stuck in my head and knowing that it's so silly and it doesn't matter. The other person doesn't think about it at all, but for some reason it's so important to me and it makes me even more anxious.
LUNA: You first started writing “Bring on the Rain” in 2021. Now, in 2023, it has been released. How has the song continued to reflect your feelings about this experience? Any changes?
MOLI: I think it's definitely continued to reflect my feelings and become even more real to me. The phase when I wrote it was when I was really discovering what PMS was and trying to get my grips on it and live with it. Now I feel I'm more aware of it and it’s still something that is difficult — knowing more about it doesn’t make it easier — but I think it's just grown with me as if I've been going through it and understanding more about myself.
LUNA: Speaking of changes and growth, your last non-single release was in 2021 with your album Préface. How have you grown since then, and how does it reflect in your artistry?
MOLI: I think there's been a lot that's happened since that album came out. The songs get written a long time before everything gets finished, and by the time that came out during COVID I was a little bit confused about the direction I wanted to go with my projects and was finding myself and my sound all over again. At that time, it was mainly Zoom sessions, and I think I was kind of fed up with that whole feeling of writing over Zoom. It felt less authentic and more planned … not so much what I enjoy with writing music.
So when I got back into the studio and did some sessions for my own project I just really wanted to have fun and not overthink it. I was not trying to write a hit — just do something fun. At the time I had been re-listening to ABBA and Queen a lot, and I was super inspired by all these crazy chord changes and harmonies, and I was like, “That's what I want to do — I want to do something a bit extra, in my own way.” And I found people [who] were really excited about doing that. I think people were really craving that feeling and being excited about making music, and that opened a whole gateway for me and I started writing a lot of music and feeling really inspired again. Then I met Matias Tellez, who produced my last two songs, and it really clicked. I didn't have to explain what I really liked. He just got it and it was a really natural collaboration. So that's when it all kind of came together.
Now, I’m super happy with the new chapter that's coming out. It was a long journey, and the music is different because it was a lot of growth for me and a lot of things happened in between, but I'm super happy with where it's at now. And every album and EP is kind of like a world in itself, and I grow with the music … I hope people will like it.
LUNA: I had the pleasure of seeing a sneak peak of your upcoming release, “It’s Not My Fault,” including those stunning visuals. What were you most excited about when going into this shoot?
MOLI: It was an amazing experience because I went to Prague a year and a half ago and I fell in love with the city and thought, “I would love to film something here.” So I started looking at music videos from artists over there and then I found Marek, who directed this video, and sent him a whole moodboard of what I was really into and what the song was about … He sent me back this amazing brief so we jumped on a call, and it was just a great feeling. Then it was just back and forth over email. It was all a bit of a hit and miss. We didn't know what was going to happen.
I went over there — it was three days in total and we drove a little bit outside of the city to this amazing location. It was honestly incredible — it was one of the best experiences I ever had. A massive shoot, I would never have expected that — what happened and the extent of it. Everybody was so lovely, Marek was so passionate about what he was doing, and he had such a specific vision that really aligned with what I loved. It all really blew my mind and way beyond my expectations. I’m so excited to put this out and feel like it's a showcase of his work, too, and I'm so happy to have collaborated with such a talented director … People can discover his work too because he’s really great.
LUNA: How do you feel like those visuals bring alive the song “It’s Not My Fault”?
MOLI: I had a very specific vision for the world I wanted it to be in. I don’t want to spoil too much — I like to leave room for interpretation — but getting to play a badass character was amazing because I got to channel that energy that the song represents of liberating yourself, feeling really free, and floating away and being yourself fully … all of that.
LUNA: What are you most excited to share with your fans next?
MOLI: I'm really excited to share new music, more visuals, and play more shows. I really want to get going and hit the road and release as much as I can!
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