At its core, Lisa Molinaro’s latest single is about stagnation—those stretches of time where momentum evaporates, change feels just out of reach and facing the hard facts is inconceivable.
“For a long time, I located that stuckness outside of myself—in outer circumstances, other people, external pressure,” says the Portland, Ore.-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. “But over time, I started to see how much of it was internal, how often I was participating in my own inertia.”
That “stuckness” certainly hasn’t defined Molinaro’s career, which has moved fluidly between orchestral composition, experimental pop and art-driven rock. An in-demand violist, she’s recorded with Modest Mouse, performed with the National and toured with the Decemberists. Molinaro finally steps into her own frame with Blind Trust, her self-released solo debut. Produced largely on her own and sharpened with help from collaborators Zach Bloomstein and Amy Dragon, it’s the culmination of decades spent absorbing sound from every possible angle. You can hear traces of the worlds Molinaro once moved through, from straight indie rock to film scoring to the avant-instrumental experimentation of former band Talkdemonic. Yet, in its finished form, Blind Trust is surprisingly cohesive, managing to consolidate chamber-pop intricacy, experimental production and cinematic tension without ever losing its emotional focus.
Most to the tracks on the album were written in the aftermath of the pandemic, a period of personal uncertainty and artistic reevaluation for Molinaro. Amid the early stages of that process, “We All Get Stuck” became a bellwether moment.
“I started with bow taps on the viola strings and a kind of train-beat-style rhythmic pulse, balancing organic string textures with warm synths,” says Molinaro. “Very quickly, it became the anchor of the record. I remember realizing, mid-process, that I wasn’t just writing a song—I was building an album.”
With that realization came a shift toward a more honest version of self-acceptance. “The idea of ‘it’s never your fault’ starts to blur … because sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t, and often it’s both in different ways,” says Molinaro. “The song eventually arrives at a kind of confrontation with that ambiguity. Bring what’s real, not what’s half-formed or protected by comfort. At a certain point, enough is enough.”
Molinaro recently had an opportunity to explore a warehouse full of abandoned rooms and offices. “The atmosphere instantly felt akin to the mood of the song,” she says. “All these things that used to be important, or have a function, were just left behind—so much inertia. I used that space as a catharsis during the filming of the video.”
We’re proud to premiere Lisa Molinaro’s “We All Get Stuck.” Blind Trust is out July 17.
—Hobart Rowland
