Mollie Elizabeth’s ‘Puppet Show’ Weighs the Price of Perfection

The pull between mid-century glamour and the cost of maintaining it sits at the centre of “Puppet Show”, the new single from Mollie Elizabeth. Produced by Joshua Murty, with string arrangements by Kyle Gordon, the track sketches beauty ideals as a shrinking of the self — all set against a sound that borrows from jazz and classic pop without turning nostalgic.

Mollie grew up in Washington’s Cascade Range, absorbing her parents’ record collection: Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day and Connie Francis on her mother’s side, The Zombies and The Kinks from her father. She started recording on a $12 microphone, and an early demo of what became her breakout song, “Vegas Venetian”, found an audience online. That instinct for melody persists here, dressed in restraint.

“Puppet Show” follows recent single “Run Rabbit” and appears on the debut EP Dirty Blonde, released in June via Neon Gold Records. In the accompanying video, Mollie undergoes a procedure that leaves her wrapped like a mummy — a blunt image that cuts hard against the song’s polished surface. No grand resolution, just a sharp outline of what it costs to look the part.