by Alex Reindl (@oldjoychicago)
"Oh, the bitter taste of it, of learning how to give. You take me away from all of it," sings Mol Sullivan in the laid back refrain of her new single and video “Deep End Dive”. She sounds resigned, but there is a dark thrill in her voice, she's quietly excited for what's coming next, and she should be. "Deep End Dive" is the first single the Cincinnati based singer-songwriter has released, and she's also putting out a charismatic summertime video. This single is a precursor to her upcoming debut full length Goose, produced by Sima Cunningham. Mol has spent the past few years writing songs, performing them around the midwest to great acclaim, and significantly in a world obsessed with escape, getting and staying sober. Her voice on "Deep End Dive" is relaxed and inviting for the most part, but in the quoted refrain it has a dark edge to it that belies the superficial meaning of the words she sings. Does she want to escape the bitter taste of learning how to give? It's a deep-end dive for sure, but where it leads isn't so clear. The song is a three minute and fifty second pop gem with a bouncing, driving bassline punctuated by staccato piano and swirls of hazy distorted guitar. The simple and strong drum beat pushes the song forward but creates space with its sparseness, the music is as much the silence as the noise.
"Deep End Dive" was recorded at the Lodge in Kentucky by John Hoffman, and features Stephen Patota on guitar and bass and Alessandro Corona on the drums and aux percussion, both helping to create a world in which the reflective Sullivan can shine through, regardless of how dark things can get. The lyrics are vague and impressionistic enough that many different stories might be being told here at once, but according to Mol the song has to do with "sayin' things that maybe I don't really mean or being unwilling to get over something in a moment and not be a dramatic, stubborn baby." Ultimately she concedes that "there are people worth the effort to really try and scoop myself out of the downs for. To learn to be better for. To grow (however reluctantly) for." There's something to be said for scooping yourself out of the downs for someone, or something, and coming back to the shallow end with a good song. It's got a hook worth hearing, and hopefully it will scoop those who hear it out of whatever deep end they've been diving in lately.
The video for the single adds to the eerie tranquility of the song tenfold, depicting all the joys of summer wrapped in a bizarre haze and filtered through apathetic reserve. We have one way tennis games, a melting ice cream cone, several costume changes, a cherry red ice pop covering Mol's lips like blood and a pool party comprised of formation swimmers flanking Sullivan as she floats on her back and strums a white Gibson in the water. It's a terrifyingly normal scene, yet still utterly surreal, and brings to the fore the way ordinary pleasures can seem haunted by some unspoken trauma or regret lurking just beneath the surface. The shots are compelling and picturesque and are vivid in the way dreams are, and the song is dreamlike as well: It's like Lana del Rey meets Grizzly Bear in a Cincinnati dive bar, and if that doesn't sound like a dream then you haven't been getting enough sleep.
Goose will be released in 2023, but you can also see her today if you live in NYC, where she will be playing the release show for "Deep End Dive" at Rubulad in Brooklyn, or in Cincinnati on August 6th at Hexagon House.