Lisa Molinaro (Modest Mouse, Talkdemonic) Releases New Single And Video “Peach Fuzz”

On July 17, Portland’s Lisa Molinaro will release her debut album Blind Trust (pre-order). Today she is excited to share the album’s latest single “Peach Fuzz” and its accompanying music video, filmed by Chris Regis. Blending wit with a message of empowerment, the song reflects on breaking free from oppressive behavior and reclaiming one’s sense of self.

On the song, Lisa Molinaro shares:

“Peach Fuzz” is about a progression to freedom.  I wanted to express how we can experience a joyful release when we realize we are no longer subject to oppressive behavior, or when we refuse to submit to it.  

As a female in the music industry, I have both witnessed and experienced shades of discrimination, alienation, objectification, minimization, and dismissal.  And we know that this happens everywhere, in so many professional settings.  So this peach, it’s the juicy prize, the reward, and many of us in life – female or otherwise – are persuaded to bite off the bitter skin and leave the sweet flavor for someone else.  I am calling out those claim jumpers of sorts who feast on the flesh and move on to the next fruit.  

But…I wanted to make it a playful song!  Although the topic is very real, there is this humorous, prescient quality to the speaker.  And when the chorus comes, the song opens up with gilded harmonies and this mocking tone.  In this before-and-after scenario, you can look back and sorta laugh.  “Peach Fuzz” is supposed to be lighthearted in its delivery.  It’s a fun clapback song for summer!

Lisa Molinaro spent years playing with some of indie rock’s most celebrated artists, recording with Modest Mouse, performing on viola with The National, and touring with The Decemberists as a violist and multi-instrumentalist. When the pandemic hit, Molinaro had an identity crisis: who was she when she wasn’t lending gravitas to others? She’d considered solo projects before, recording into her Tascam as a twenty-something; before, she’d cited external circumstances, but a collaboration with a dance company led her to work on her own project. Years later, we have her debut album.

Blending layered string arrangements, art rock ambition, and experimental pop textures, Blind Trust balances meticulous composition with emotional immediacy. Molinaro’s songs move fluidly between hushed harmonies, distorted guitars, and cinematic tension, shaped by years of collaboration across indie rock, film scoring, and performance art. Rooted in themes of grief, self-reflection, and transformation, her work feels both intimate and expansive – the sound of an artist finally claiming space for herself.

Mixed by Zach Bloomstein (Searows, Portugal. The Man) and mastered by Amy Dragon (Bartees Strange, Cleo Solo), Blind Trust integrates everything she’s learned through decades of touring and makes something no one else could make. Molinaro is the first to describe herself as a late bloomer; she named her home studio after that.  But she’s here now, and wherever Molinaro goes on Blind Trust, she goes wholly.