Q&A: Diving Deeper Into Her Creative Process and Lyrics, Molly Payton Reflects on Vulnerability in Her Debut Mini-Album ‘Slack’
NAVIGATING THE AFTERMATH OF HEARTBREAK WITH ITS HAZY HIGHS AND CRUSHING LOWS — Molly Payton’s mesmerizing vocals focus on introspection and reflect nostalgia on her latest record Slack. The 20-year-old New Zealand born, London-based singer deals with a spectrum of emotions with a deeply elusive vocal tone that is full of sincerity.
The word “slack” can be defined in one way as being relaxed or even being at a pause or interval in your life. Payton’s music doesn’t just demand attention, but makes you want to willingly drop everything to sit down and listen to what she is offering. The singer does this exceptionally well on tracks like “When Skies Were Always Blue” and “You Cut Me So Much Slack.” Writing the former with Jimmy Hogarth and Benjamin Francis Leftwich, the song deals with loss, trauma, and the tribulations following a breakup. Payton paints a picture of bittersweet tragedy, and it's clear that the past — and its darkest moments — can produce the most beautiful pieces of art. “You Cut Me So Much Slack” is described by Payton as a sort of bridge between her second EP, Porcupine, and Slack. A track that could also be aimed at going easy on yourself, it explores the complexities and intricacies of anxiety. Payton’s lingering vocals float around a rock instrumentation that provides an intended poignancy.
Payton’s songs are palpable and laced in honesty, offering a fresh twist on an age-old sound. A voice full of warmth and evocative tones, there is a wistfulness to tracks like “In Your Arms” and “Honey.” The latter, which is the opening track to the project, illustrates the ill-fated point in a relationship where things stop working as well as they’re meant to. Its accompanying music video mirrors this exact rush of emotions flawlessly. The track has an unapologetic undercurrent that prepares listeners for a collection of songs that doesn’t shy away from being upfront or taking responsibility.
Reaching resolutions and indulging in self-reflection, there is no doubt that any future, full-length follow up from Payton will be on the same high as Slack. As well as revealing her favorite ice cream flavor, we caught up with Payton to discuss her favorite lyrics from the record, the visual side to her work, and her plans for the future.
LUNA: For those unfamiliar with your music, what are some of the key elements making your sound yours?
PAYTON: My two main influences are ’60s songwriters and ’90s alternative music, so my music is a combination of that really raw emotional lyricism combined with a heavier, fuller band sound. A lot of it is driven by nostalgia and reflection.
LUNA: Congrats on the release of Slack! You recorded the project back in your hometown in New Zealand — how do you think recording back home and during quarantine impacted your creative process?
PAYTON: I think it allowed me a lot of peace to sit with the songs and really think about how I wanted them to sound and feel. I think I was also pushed to be more involved and assertive as, because of the time difference between London and NZ, my producer Oli Barton-Wood was only able to call in after 7/8 p.m. our time. I was really present throughout the entire process and [had] to be confident in myself and my decisions, which in the end made the mini-album feel so much more personal and complete to me.
LUNA: What set of lyrics are you most proud of from the album?
PAYTON: “When Skies Were Always Blue” is lyrically probably the best song, but “While You’re Driving” is my personal favorite. Those lyrics kind of just fell out of me without any push or shove, and they really capture that moment in time perfectly for me. The ending of that song is just this outpouring of joy and love: “Sing to me in the car / Keep one hand on my leg / Tell me it’s not that far / Drink coffee with the dregs / You always say what I need to hear / Drum on steering wheels / Eyes shut / My hand in your hair while you’re driving.”
LUNA: The videos we’ve seen so far — “Honey” and “You Cut Me So Much Slack” — are really well done. What’s your dynamic like with director Taylor Mansfield when bringing the visual side of your work to life?
PAYTON: It's amazing. I've always struggled with visuals but I really clicked with Taylor. As soon as we met, we had so many ideas, and even when things went wrong he’d come up with something crazy and execute it in a couple days. That's what happened with “Honey” — we had a completely different idea that we had to cancel because the weather packed in and we suddenly had four days or so to come up with a new concept. We were standing in my driveway stressing out and he suddenly points across the street to a line of big windows in a house and goes, “Imagine if you could see someone's whole life pan out through those.” Three days later, we were filming the “Honey” video!
LUNA: You mentioned that your previous project, Porcupine, touches on friendships and relationships while this project is more self-reflective. How does this shift translate to the sonic end of the project?
PAYTON: I think they both revolve around my relationships with others, but with Slack it was more self reflective in the sense that I was more looking at my own actions and feelings and working through my past in order to better my relationships in the present. Sonically, I think you can hear this a lot in Slack — it has a warmth and thoughtfulness that I think Porcupine lacked.
LUNA: Which track was the most difficult to finalize? Why did you want to stick with it?
PAYTON: Probably “When Skies Were Always Blue.” I think I had such a clear idea of what I wanted for that track that it became really hard to achieve once we got around to actually recording it. Sometimes it's much easier to just not have a plan for recording because you stop forcing a song to be something that it isn’t.
LUNA: A fun one: What’s your go to ice cream flavor?
PAYTON: It depends if we're talking about happy ice cream or sad ice cream. If it's a nice hot day and I'm at the park, I’d say coconut or pistachio. If I'm having a shitty day, it's gotta be cookie dough or something naughty like that.
LUNA: With this project out and some shows booked, what intentions do you have for the rest of 2021?
PAYTON: I just wanna gig as much as possible really — that’s the most rewarding part of music, I think. I’m also starting to write an album now, so I’ll probably launch myself into that soon.
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