Molly Millington doesn’t do things by halves. With her big hair, boldly patterned outfits and a chaotic good energy, she carries the kind of presence that lingers and instantly puts you at ease.
That same energy runs through her music – it’s unpredictable and comforting at the same time, bending genres and refusing to be put into a box.
On the cusp of releasing her debut album, Frank Morgan, Millington is brimming with excitement and giddiness. There’s an unmistakable sense that this chapter has been a long time coming, and her heart and soul have truly been poured into the making of this record.
The album’s title draws from a childhood favourite, The Wizard Of Oz. “It never clicked to me that five of the characters were the same actor,” she explains.
“The gatekeeper, the Wizard Of Oz, one of the carriage drivers… they’re all the same guy, just with a prosthetic nose or a different wig. And that actor’s name is Frank Morgan.
“I feel like that’s all of us in real life,” she adds. “Some people see us as one character, and then others who really know us might see all the characters that we are… So that’s where it came from, because I feel like this album touches on a lot of feelings from across the board.”
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It’s a slightly left-of-centre reference, but a perfect metaphor for a record that doesn’t sit still. Millington has never been one to tether herself to a single genre, which makes her music a challenge to categorise. When asked to sum up the album in one word, her answer is simple: fun.
“I’ve never felt any pressure to stay in a box or keep a song purely one genre,” she says. “I guess genres have been blurred, but nothing about it was strategically planned by me.”
Lead single Your Villain leans into a country twang wrapped around a glossy acoustic pop melody, reminiscent of a Sabrina Carpenter track, while others, like Lovers Song carry a breezy, folk-leaning warmth.
“When I was really young, my music did fall into the country genre, and then I went back into pop,” Millington explains. “I am such a pop music lover, but I just know that other people can do it more justice, because I really am more a folky country singer.
“I think I was accidentally pushing myself to be more poppy, and it feels really nice. I just wanted the music to be whatever came out, but it has strayed into country folk, and I love it.”
Millington’s creative partnership with producer Xavier Dunn spans more than six years, and by now the pair are deeply in sync. Recorded across multiple studios, Frank Morgan initially had two very distinct halves.
“My life can go from being like, ‘I’m single and sad’, to married with four kids within like, nine months – or longer, I guess it would have to be,” she notes. “But the point is, my life changed so quickly, I wasn’t that person any more.
“When I wrote the first half, I was in a really bad place, but I wasn’t aware of it, and when I finished writing the album, I was actually in a good place, but I thought I was in a bad place.”
This emotional whiplash made its way onto the record, and before mixing was complete, Millington worried that the divide was too stark and the record wasn’t feeling like a single body of work.
Once Dunn worked his magic and the sequencing was locked in, everything clicked. The result is an album that moves through different emotional states and sonic textures, yet still feels cohesive.
Despite the highs and lows, Millington found peace in the creative process. “I took pressure off myself,” she says.
“I just wanted to let it be what it was and not have anything in mind, because sometimes I feel like, unintentionally, I’ll want someone to react a certain way to my art or to me, so much so that I’ll change the trajectory of what I was doing.”
Letting go of expectation opened the door to something more instinctive. The writing took on a natural momentum as Millington reached her flow-state, and what emerged is a beautifully written, heartfelt and honest collection of songs.
When it comes to what she hopes listeners take from Frank Morgan, her answer is sincere. “I just want people to feel heard,” she says. “I don’t want to be an artist who just gets popular. I want to get to the people who need music.
“Even if it’s a ‘guilty pleasure’, I don’t care, just as long as I’m affecting these people and they’re getting what they need from me… If I didn’t have music from certain artists, I would not be here, and I think it’s such a blessing to be that artist for people.”
This is one of the more grounded responses you’ll hear to that question. Millington speaks with a raw authenticity that makes her instantly likeable. She has a burning desire to really make an impact as an artist, and she’ll shout it from the rooftops so everyone can hear it.
But despite this, there’s still a very real part of her that simply wants people to like her music. “I’m a big review reader,” she admits, “Obviously I would love people to love me, but if not it’s just another opportunity to try again.”
With a jam-packed 2026 ahead, including plenty of live shows on the horizon, it certainly feels that Molly Millington is about to have a breakthrough moment.
With the voice, vision and ambition to match, Frank Morgan stands as a bold introduction to who Millington is: multi-faceted, emotionally honest and completely unafraid to follow her instincts.
Molly Millington’s Frank Morgan is out now.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
