Molly Alice Smitten-Downes (born 2 April 1987), known by her

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Molly, is an English singer and songwriter.

Early life

Born in

Anstey, Leicestershire Anstey is a large village in Leicestershire, England, located north west of Leicester in the borough of Charnwood. Its population was 6,528 at the 2011 census. This figure is expected to increase due to the building of a new housing developm ...

, Molly grew up in

Rothley Rothley ( ) is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. Situated around west of the River Soar and north of Leicester, it had a population of 3,612 inhabitants . The population measured at the 201 ...

and attended Our Lady's Convent School in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

. She began starring in stage productions from the age of eight. She studied music at

Leicester College Leicester College is a further education college in Leicester, England. It is one of the largest colleges in the UK, with more than 26,000 students, 1,600 staff, plus an annual budget of over £50million. It has three main campuses in the city ...

and at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey.

Career

2005–10: Stunt

Molly was a member of the British dance music project

Stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

, who achieved chart success in 2008 with their collaboration mashup track "

Raindrops (Encore une fois) "Raindrops" is a dance music song released in 2006 by the British production team Stunt. Produced in Canada by Dave Valler and Gary Johnson, it reached number 8 in Finland. At least six different mixes have been released. Lyrically, "Raindrops" c ...

" with

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums w ...

, combining songs " Raindrops" (2006) and "

Encore une fois "Encore une fois" (; French for "One More Time") is a song by German DJ group Sash!, released in January 1997 as the second single from their debut album, ''It's My Life – The Album'' (1997). It features French vocals by German vocalist Sabin ...

" (1997). In 2009, Smitten-Downes teamed with Swedish producer and singer/songwriter

Basshunter Jonas Erik Altberg (; born 22 December 1984), known professionally as Basshunter, is a Swedish singer, record producer, songwriter and DJ. Basshunter has recorded five studio albums: ''The Bassmachine'' (2004), ''LOL (Basshunter album), LOL'' (2 ...

, for the collaboration "I Will Learn to Love Again", which is featured on his second UK album ''

Bass Generation ''Bass Generation'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish musician Basshunter. It was first released on 28 September 2009, a week after the album's lead single " Every Morning". The album reached No. 2 in New Zealand and No. 7 in South Africa. B ...

''.

2011–13: Career beginnings

An acoustic EP ''Fly Away with Me'' was released on 18 December 2011. EP track "Shadows" was sampled by grime artist Marger and has been released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

through 360 Records (21 August 2011). "Beneath The Lights", her collaboration with Swedish producer Anders Hansson, was released in April 2013 with Anders' project Dream Beats. "Never Forget", her collaboration with producer

Darren Styles Darren James Mew (born 23 May 1975), better known as Darren Styles, is an English record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Colchester, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found s ...

, was written and recorded in 2012.

2014: Eurovision Song Contest

After being supported and later put forward by

BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 ...

, Molly was approached by Guy Freeman, the executive producer and head of delegation of Eurovision for the BBC and asked if she would like to compose an entry for that year's contest. After initially saying 'I'm so flattered, but it's not for me’ on the grounds that it was not 'suitable' to her creatively, eventually Smitten-Downes was convinced by the prospect of being able to perform a self-penned work on a global stage. On 3 March 2014, the BBC announced that Molly would be representing the United Kingdom in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European ...

with the song "

Children of the Universe "Children of the Universe" is a song by British singer Molly Smitten-Downes. It was chosen by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark. The song was co-written by Smitten-Downes. An indie pop and a ...

". Molly wrote "Children of the Universe" herself and has described her ambition to write music that "breaks down political barriers". Prior to the contest, Molly signed a record deal with

Warner Music UK Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels * Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Re ...

on 1 April 2014. On 4 April, Molly announced that she would release her song "

" on 28 April 2014. It was made available for digital download on

from 15 April. The song was recorded in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden with a 28-piece orchestra and produced by Anders Hansson. The official video for the entry was released on YouTube on 23 April 2014. The following day, Molly appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo. However at the Eurovision final on 10 May 2014, she was regarded as a front-runner and one of the favourites to win the show. Molly concluded the show performing last and the song was voted 17th (out of 26 entries) gaining 40 points.

2014–15: After Eurovision

On 5 June it was revealed that Molly would perform at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

on 27 June 2014. In 2015 she teamed up with German DJ and producer Zwette to make "Rush" which was released by

Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...

and remixed by

Sam Feldt Sammy Boeddha Renders (born 1 August 1993), better known by his stage name Sam Feldt, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and entrepreneur. Career Musical career In 2015, he released a remake of Robin S.' " Show Me Love". The track was released b ...

. In September 2015, Molly performed "Rush" with

at V Festival in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's producer

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish-American producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his influential work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A ...

sampled a remix of "Beneath the Lights" for "Shadows" from his album ''

Lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...

''.

Honours and awards

Molly was awarded in 2012 the Best Urban/Pop Act at

Live and Unsigned Live and Unsigned is a music competition in the United Kingdom for unsigned bands and vocal groups to perform live for substantial prizes. It was founded 2007, and has attracted over 40,000 entrants annually since its inception. Competitors perfo ...

and in 2013 won Best Song at the Best of British Unsigned Music Awards. On 1 November 2014, she received an honorary award for her musical achievements at Leicester College where she completed a performing musician course in 2002.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smitten-Downes, Molly 1987 births Living people 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers English women singer-songwriters English dance musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2014 Warner Music Group artists People from Anstey, Leicestershire Articles containing video clips