As someone who listens to their fair share of new music, there’s honestly not much better than seeing an artist you’ve followed on and off for a couple of years release a large body of work and absolutely crush it. In this instance, Molly Millington has gone about and released a debut album that’s one of the most fun debuts you’ll hear this year. Titled Frank Morgan, Millington’s album borders on sounds of country, straight up pop, sad balladry and some real sing-a-long moments; all delivered with a dry wit and sense of boundless fun.
Opening the album is single “Just Drive”, which incidentally feels like the perfect song to blast while fangin’ it down the highway. I have a theory that every album, irrespective of its genre, has a driving/highway song. I’m here to say “Just Drive” is the definitive answer to this theory on Frank Morgan. Up next is the sweet and soft country-adjacent “Your Villain”, with its subtly sincere chorus making it one of the better moments on the front end of the album.
The closing minute of “Death by a Thousand What Ifs” feels like the song that will one day be the perfect encore of a live set, while “My Man” is a sad ballad low on percussion that leans into an acoustic vibe. It’s another example of the range Millington has shown throughout all of her music since her earliest singles and easily shows why she’s had plenty of people backing her progress in recent years.
The best four-song run of Frank Morgan comes in the form of “Girl Next Door”, “Julius”, “Greener Than Me” and “Lovers Song”. Commencing with “Girl Next Door”, it is short but overly fun. A song of whimsy, whistling and strong female lead character vibes, the protagonist of the song is the type of daughter you want to raise – a real ‘doesn’t bow to pressure or society’s expectations’ type of operator. Followed up with “Julius”, the titular Julius is the antithesis of the previous “Girl Next Door”. Julius is sweet, naive and a little unsure, and will become influenced by the aforementioned girl next door. Millington’s vocals come to the front on “Julius”, showcasing songwriting that is all types of great.
“Greener Than Me” is a rollicking and wandering country classic-in-waiting. Genuinely enjoyable over its more than three and half minutes, the closing chorus coming out of the bridge is quite possibly the peak of the best song on the album. Closing this four track run is “Lovers Song”, another track that leans into the country-pop sound of the album. As the title suggests, it’s a love song through-and-through. Its choruses are as joyful and heartwarming as you can get with the lyrics “this must be falling, this must be love, this must be everything that I’ve been dreaming of” being way too wholesome.
“Empty Handed” closes out Frank Morgan (apart from a short and sassy outro titled “Th End”). “Empty Handed” feels like the song that plays in the closing scenes of a coming-of-age film as the main character (possibly the “Girl Next Door”?) learns that they’re exactly who they need to be, and not what others want them to be.
All things considered, Molly Millington more than delivers here on Frank Morgan. At less than 30 minutes in length but still packing plenty of punch, this could be one of the best debuts of the year.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Frank Morgan is out now – listen to it HERE
Header image credit: Nikola Jokanovic
