Admission to The Museum of Being

In the wake of her third album release, The Museum of Being, Minnesota countrypolitan artist Molly Brandt took a moment to discuss the stories behind her record, her refreshingly efficient songwriting process, and even the podcasts currently in her rotation. 

The Museum of Being has been out for over a week now, and I feel there’s so much to unpack. 

First and foremost, the title is quite genius. As you listen, you truly feel as though you’re wandering through exhibits dedicated to the human experience: a museum full of memory, love, loss, joy, and existence. The album is, as it says, a museum of being. 

So, let's unravel a bit of the album aided by my own analysis and the words from Molly Brandt herself. 

And, if you read to the end, you’ll get some additional listening recommendations!

A Museum of Philosophy 

I began by asking Molly about her intentions for the album. 

She explained that The Museum of Being is “centered around memory and how time feels as it passes.” 

There are songs that peak into Brandt’s own lived experiences, songs that tell the story of community, songs to empower, songs that peak into the past, and even songs to dance to. 

Brandt got pretty introspective peeling back the layers of the album. “Everyone has their own story,” she said, then went on to say that on the other hand, we are all microscopic in the grand scheme of things. The Museum of Being is born in the tension between existence being both big and small at the same time. 

Brandt enjoys making her own museums, and not just sonically. She actually features her museum on the album cover. Looking at the image, you uncover easter eggs of the artist's personality and life. She envisioned The Museum of Being to be a collective and personal museum of the human experience. Listeners can grab on to specific details in each song if wanted, or simply enjoy great music - or both! The album has so many levels, and later we’ll get into Brandt’s songwriting process. 

No Weak Tracks

It's hard to pick favorites out of the album - which Molly agreed with me on. 

Each song is so special in its own way. 

Brandt has accomplished a rare thing, a banger collection of songs that work as standalone singles while simultaneously contributing to a larger artistic statement. Together, they form this musically charged group hug around humanity. 

One personal standout is “The Library,” the album’s second track. 

I was immediately drawn to its haunting background vocals and mysterious pop edge. But above all, the song's lyrical content is what lingers. 

| We live in Ptolemaic times

| With all the knowledge in our palms

Then comes the powerful chorus:

| Don’t burn down the library

| In a mass and unmarked grave

| Subjugated, lost, or stolen

| Don’t usher in another dark age

It’s urgent but not preachy, and reflective without losing its melodic momentum. It’s a song you can easily get obsessed with.

I asked Molly again if she had any favorites, or “most proud of” songs, and she replied saying it changed everyday.

On that day:

“Crystalline Vision” felt like her best songwriting, while “The Gloom” felt like her most epic song. 

As I write, I’m listening through the album (again), and I really can’t stress enough how great each song is. I understand why Molly can’t pick a favorite. 

For example, the next song following “The Library” is “One Helluva Country.” Where “The Library” broods, this track dances. It leans hard into the “country” side of Brandt’s countrypolitan sound, and line dances right into your heart. It easily found a way into my “Cookin’ and Dancin’” playlist – and nearly inspired me to buy cowboy boots I absolutely cannot afford.

The Grizzly Rose

Molly Brandt revealed much about the “Grizzly Rose.” – one of the album's more heartwarming songs.

“The Grizzly Rose,” is a charming folk duet between Molly Brandt and her father, Blake Brandt, but the story behind the song is even more moving. 

Written as a tribute to Molly’s late mother at her father’s request, the song weaves together memories from both Molly and her dad. Many of those memories center around the Grizzly Rose, a bar in Colorado where Molly’s parents spent countless nights tearing up the dance floor line dancing. 

Molly wanted to recreate some of the energy in the Grizzly Rose. She used a lot of country song grooves as inspiration, alongside all of the details her dad could give her about the Grizzly Rose. The result is a heartclenching, soft boot stomping, country song. 

Songwriting Without Fear

As our conversation moved more into the “what is your songwriting process? How do you manage to create something like this??” – Brandt revealed that a thesaurus, rhymezone, and a dream were behind it all…

The songs emerged naturally, but never accidentally. There's an ease to Brandt's writing that can make it seem effortless, though that shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of craft.

One thing that stood out to me most during our conversation—especially as a musician—was Brandt's songwriting-to-recording-to-releasing pipeline.

Molly said something that I think a lot of us musicians need to hear:

"Don't think put it out there. I just want to make a song and have it be for me."

Brandt explained that the first three songs she ever released were also the first three songs she wrote. Rather than sitting on them for years, endlessly tweaking and second-guessing herself, she got them out into the world.

For Brandt, success is self-defined. If a song makes you happy and you believe in it, that's already meaningful. As she put it, she's simply trying to achieve greatness—where greatness means creating a genuine work of art.

Think less. Make more music.

We ended our conversation discussing books that inspired various songs across the album. Brandt is deeply curious and intellectually engaged, constantly seeking out stories, ideas, and perspectives that challenge her understanding of the world.

She writes songs for people who want to immerse themselves in something complex, vulnerable, confusing, surprising, and intense.

And that's ultimately what The Museum of Being offers.

Not just a collection of songs, but an invitation.

Admission to the museum is now open.

Listen to 'The Museum of Being' here

More from Molly Brandt

Additional recommendations for artists that shaped and inspired Molly Brandt, and some podcasts that Brandt keeps in rotation:

Artists:

• The Chicks

• Tim Mcgraw

• Garth Brooks

• Kacey Musgraves

• Olivia Rodriguez

• Diamond Rio

Podcasts:

• Diabolical Lies

• What went wrong

• The Culture Study

Photo credits to @curiouscumulus on instagram