Molly O'Mahony - Remember To Be Brave (single)
Molly O’Mahony is an exceptionally gifted musician and singer songwriter from Ballydehob, West Cork, Ireland. Now she releases her debut single as a solo artist “Remember to Be Brave” This is what she said about the song: “This is a song of hope, recovery and forward movement. I send it out to everyone affected by the crazy year in our wake, and as a rallying cry to look up, open outwards and keep her lit. The world and the people in it are actually wonderful.”
Molly has spent the past decade writing and performing with art-folk group Mongoose who have been a fixture of the Irish music scene since their formation in 2012. The band have released two albums and two EPS in that time and have shared stages with the likes of Glen Hansard, Mary Coughlan and Eddi Reader. Over the course of 2018 and 2019, Mongoose collaborated in making and performing in ‘Woman Undone’, the theatrical retelling of singer Mary Coughlan’s life, which culminated in a joint Irish Times Theatre award nomination for the band with Coughlan and composer Valgeir Sigurdson for ‘Best Sound’ in 2019.
As a teenager living in Ballydehob, she performed as one half of a jazz duo with local guitarist Norman Collins. They played a regular spot at Ballydehob Jazz festival for consecutive years. After winning a local singing competition, the pair used the prize of studio time to record an album together entitled Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars, a collection of blues and bossa nova standards, when Molly was just seventeen. She returned to her family home in West Cork in March of last year, along with her four siblings. She penned the song “Remember to Be Brave” against the backdrop of the unfolding pandemic. It is the first release from an album she's due to record this summer.
Dreamy intro sets to the tone for the song. And also prepares you for the unexpected. O'Mahony's effortless vocal has a remarkable tone, you can clearly hear the Celtic influences. The dynamic changes and picks up for the chorus. The overall vibe is optimistic and inspiring. Inspiring everyone who hears it to go and follow their dreams, not to listen to those trying to discourage. It takes determination to follow your heart but we have no doubt this passionate debut from Molly O'Mahony will motivate some of you to do so.
"There’s no fast track
or no easy ride.
You must bump on down the rude road, get caught up in the barbed wires.
Don’t let ‘em snag you,
honey cut yourself loose.
Even if you speak it with a wavering voice, speak what you know to be true"