Molly Nilsson

Nilsson moved to Berlin to pursue music, working in the cloakroom of the nightclub Berghain while saving money to write songs on weekdays. She released her first album, These Things Take Time, in 2008 as a CD-R with just 500 copies. In 2009, she released another self-produced album, Europa. Nilsson gained more visibility in 2011 when her song 'Hey Moon' from These Things Take Time was covered by John Maus for his album We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves. After releasing Zenith in 2015, she began a world tour. In early 2021, after Maus appeared in the crowd at a Donald Trump rally prior to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, Nilsson re-released 'Hey Moon' along with 'Silver' as a double-sided single to benefit Black Lives Matter.

Nilsson produces and performs her music on her own, though she co-releases much of it on Dark Skies Association, the independent label she founded in 2009, and on Glasgow's Night School Records. Her style features minimalist arrangements of synthesizers and drum beats and is often categorized as dark pop or lo-fi synth-pop. She cites solitude as a necessary part of her creative process. During live performances, she often sings over a CD of her own work. One of her heroes is Polish socialist Rosa Luxemburg, the subject of her song 'Obnoxiously Talented'. In an interview with Tribune magazine, she said: '[A]part from her work and legacy, I've really developed a relationship with Rosa Luxemburg on a human level.' Her album Extreme (2022) was released on the date of Luxemburg's death, 15 January. She has 6k followers on Instagram and has resided in Berlin since 2004.