Molly Thomas’s new single, “I Am a Wave,” is the final track on her upcoming album Tumble Home, but it was also the very first song written for the project, a fact that gives it a cyclical almost tidal significance.

Written on a porch overlooking Mobile Bay, Alabama, with only stillness and the motion of water for company, “I Am a Wave” is a chamber folk meditative song that speaks to how we move through each other’s lives, separate, then reunite, and carry fragments of each other forwards.

Listen here:

The idea behind the song is as evocative as the arrangement itself.: “What if a wave could speak?” Molly wondered aloud, seated by the bay as water lapped and breezes stirred the shoreline.

What came from that question is a story that is both personal and elemental. The wave becomes a stand in for all of us as we move, touch, crash, drift and return through life. And in that journey, there is something deeply human to all of us. It’s a story of connection, loss and the quiet persistence of memory.

Molly Thomas performs the song’s string section herself, layering violins, violas and cellos into a soundscape that imitates the swell of a tide beneath the surface of the water. Her vocals are gentle, but coming from a place deep inside.

Ken Rose, who is her longtime collaborator, adds guitar and bass work that hum and roll beneath her voice, giving the song a sense of earthy texture while allowing it to remain open and fluid.

Together, Molly and Ken build a song that feels as if it is suspended in time.

It’s rooted in place, but unmoored like a letter set adrift in a bottle. This free and unforced quality of the recording comes from the fact it has not been over produced. It’s a perfect encapsulation of her upcoming album Tumble Home as a whole – an album rooted in a strong sense of place, connection, and personal history.

In a year marked by upheaval and healing, and after surviving a life-threatening car accident in 2023, Molly Thomas has emerged with music that’s more intimate, elemental and grounded than ever. And there is a grace in closing out the record with the first song written. A return to its origin, and a reminder that even as things can move, break and change, the current continues to carry us forward.

About the album, Molly says:

“Making this album challenged everything I thought I knew about myself as an artist,” says Thomas. “It required patience, trust, and the kind of resilience that doesn’t come with noise or bravado. It’s quiet. It’s persistent. And it’s supported – by love, by community, by music itself.”

Listen to “I Am a Wave” on Spotify now

Find out more about Molly Thomas on her Website

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