For Molly Burman, reinvention has meant more than adopting a new name. As Molly And The Dolly Shop, the North London singer-songwriter has created a space in which vulnerability can become theatre, community and, crucially, power.
With lashes on, perfume applied and a band beside her, Burman steps into a persona capable of carrying songs that might otherwise feel too exposed to share.
None has demanded more than Move Inside. Assembled from fragments written over five years, the song confronts Burman’s experience of sexual assault, moving from fear and confusion towards an angry spoken-word reckoning that reclaims her voice.
Produced with Bombay Bicycle Club’s Ed Nash, Move Inside pairs direct writing with restrained instrumentation and layered harmonies. Its honesty has already resonated deeply with audiences live and online.
In this FM PRO 10Q, Burman discusses turning old notebook pages into her most powerful song yet, finding protection through performance, building a safe and inclusive world around The Dolly Shop, and keeping honest songwriting at the centre of an industry increasingly obsessed with content.
It was no longer a sad song about my trauma; it was powerful and angry and gave me back my voice.
Q1. Move Inside took years to write because the experience behind it was so difficult to process. What finally allowed you to put those fragments into one complete song?
I have no idea, maybe it was the amount of time that had passed, the universe or just my cat sitting with me while I wrote it! Whatever it was, I don’t even feel like I can replicate it. I just happened to come across old pages in an old notebook and for the first time in the 5 years they’d been written, I was able to put them to music.
Q2. The track moves from fear and confusion towards anger and power. How important was it for the song to end in a place of reckoning rather than simply stay inside the trauma?
It wasn’t something I initially intended. For me, most of the power comes from the spoken outro, which was added some time after I wrote the song.
I was tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep when the words came to me, so I quickly wrote them down so that I could rest. The next rehearsal I had, I added the spoken word to the end of the song and then the whole meaning of it changed. It was no longer a sad song about my trauma, it was powerful and angry and gave me back my voice.
Q3. You often describe songwriting as a kind of diary. When the subject matter is this personal, how do you decide what belongs in the song and what still needs to remain private?
I honestly don’t! I’m a big over-sharer , I could meet someone for the first time and tell them anything if the conversation came to it. I never think about listeners when I write songs, I write them for me. Once they’re out I start to feel the fact that people are listening to this intensely deep stuff about me, but it doesn’t really bother me too much.
I’m always amazed by how the most personal songs are the most relateable. Usually when people listen to music they’re thinking about how they relate to it and how it fits into their experiences, rather than about me, so I find that comforting.
Q4. The response to live clips of Move Inside has been immediate and deeply emotional. What has it been like seeing listeners recognise their own experiences in something that began as such a private piece of writing?
Both heartbreaking and touching. I’ve received the loveliest messages, calling me strong and thanking me for giving them a voice. That felt weird at first, because I guess I didn’t realise how many people felt exactly the same as me.
I hate that other people can relate, but if they really do feel the same as me, then I’m glad we can give each other some sense of comfort and strength.
Q5. FM PRO TECH Q: The song needs to hold vulnerability without becoming overly dramatic. How did you and Ed Nash approach arrangement, dynamics, vocal production and instrumentation so the emotional build felt powerful but still truthful?
Whenever I first performed it live, the band didn’t come in until the last chorus, that was always the part where I felt really powerful, and full of sadness and anger and fire. I wanted to make the whole song feel like that, whilst still keeping that vulnerability.
Ed’s always great and understanding the exact vibe I’m after. We honestly kept it pretty simple, nothing too showy or over the top. And of course we added a bunch of harmonies to polish it off.
Q6. Molly And The Dolly Shop is more than a name change from your earlier work as Molly Burman. What did creating this new world unlock in you that the previous project could not?
I think it just separated me from my music a bit. Whilst my songs are so personal and about my life, when I perform, it’s really nice to have this persona that I can hide behind and stop myself from feeling too vulnerable.
When I’m Molly and the Dolly Shop I put my lashes on, I do my makeup, I wear a particular perfume, and I feel confident, like a character, who can sing these incredibly personal songs, and not be phased.
Q7. The Dolly Shop is built around community, including your band, fans, online audience and queer community. How do you want people to feel when they enter that space around the music?
Just safe I guess. Music is my safe space to understand how I feel and let out my emotions. So I want people to feel that exact same thing.
Q8. You are part of Loud LDN and have been vocal about LGBTQ+ rights, feminism, mental health and greater inclusivity in music. How do you protect the songs from becoming purely message-driven while still standing clearly for those values?
I think by making sure they’re still very musical. I’m not just shouting words or opinions at people, there’s story telling and catchy melodies and sometimes even a bit of humour. Whilst I have stuff to say, I’m still focused on the musical aspect.
Q9. Chokehold and Move Inside both confront difficult experiences around violence, consent and power. Do you see this project as giving yourself more freedom to address subjects you might once have held back from?
Definitely. I think before because I was younger, it didn’t feel right to write about this stuff. The thought of my family and family friends hearing little old me singing about those subjects would have mortified me. Now I’m 25, I’ve found my voice, I’ve found my persona, I can sing about these topics, and they’re right there cheering me on.
Q10. FM PRO TECH Q: You are building Molly And The Dolly Shop across music, live performance, visuals, social media and community at the same time. How do you keep that wider artist world coherent without allowing the demands of content and promotion to dilute the songwriting at its centre?
It’s difficult. Whenever I write songs I try to keep the idea of listeners and promotion in a locked box that’s far far away. It’s so important that the songs are made because they mean something, I never want to write a song in order to write a hit or be commercial. For me that’s just never what songwriting has been.
It’s definitely hard with the pressures these days to act like an influencer, and I don’t think I’m great at socials, but you just have to do what you can do and remember that even if no one was listening, you’d still be making music, so put all that noise out of mind while you create.
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