Swedish-born synth pop artist Molly Nilsson is a firm believer in the D.I.Y. approach. She records her music alone; has her own label, Dark Skies Association; sometimes partners with another label, Night School, that allows her all the freedom she needs; and stars in her videos. Her insular, dark approach to synth pop is balanced by the swooping synth melodies and detached grace of her vocals. Her first album, 2008's These Things Take Time, was released on CD-R with only 500 copies made, then followed the next year by another album, the nine-song Europa. Still working by herself, and relatively quickly, she self-released a record a year on Dark Skies Association (Follow the Light in 2010, History in 2012, and Travels in 2013, the latter co-released with Night School). Along the way her profile was boosted when she and John Maus recorded a version of "Hey Moon" from These Things Take Time for his 2011 album, We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves. Always fond of traveling, Nilsson took a step out of her comfort zone recording-wise by heading to Argentina for two months, where she made Sólo Paraíso: The Summer Songs EP. The process of recording her next album proved to be a little more difficult, as she ended up scrapping a finished version after taking a hard look after a two-month break and realizing it wasn't quite the next step she wanted to take. In its place she made the expansive Zenith, her most melodic and user-friendly album yet. It was released by Dark Skies Association and Night School in late 2015.

Tim Sendra
AllMusic.com