Goblynne (the moniker for musician Molly Kirschenbaum) is set to release their first solo album, also titled Hot! : (.  on June 23, 2023. Using songs from their performance, this record explores the tenacity of performative femininity, even for those who reject it. “As a nonbinary person, I have often felt like femininity was something I either chose to engage with or was forced to engage with,” Kirschenbaum says. “I ended up creating this character in my head that this project was about, this person who embodies all the aspects of Western American beauty, blonde, blue-eyed, but a little tortured, a little haunted, and decided to try to free them from their body with this album.” For Kirschenbaum, that meant turning their multi-instrumental, vocal, and sound mixing skills into art pop so shiny it doubles as a mirror. Kirschenbaum, alongside co-producer Adam Rochelle, crafted a smart pop landscape a la Caroline Polachek. 

Dropping the single “Where This Goes” off of Hot! : ( recently, Goblynne has today dropped the video for the single.  Splicing in some homemade videos while growing up, Goblynne highlights a free flowing dance number that’s invokes heavy emotion.

As Goblynne, Kirschenbaum transforms their live show into theater. “More is more!!!! A live show should be about so much more than the music. I want people to feel like they are getting their money’s worth.” Their live shows incorporate wigs, scaly gloves, and a fake meditation app issuing warped platitudes about Goblynne’s appearance and personality. Despite the costumes, Kirschenbaum is doing so much more than playing dress-up. Like one of their weird dolls, Goblynne embodies the “ delicious insane horrors of trying to be a girl, trying to be a person, trying to be anything.” Only they do it with ear candy hooks and polished vocals like a thick lacquer over the barbed lyrics, screams, and cracks that they always fill with more.

Photo Courtesy: Kiersten Friesen