With “White Noise,” the latest single lifted from her released album With the Wind: An Orchestral Dance Music Suite, multi-instrumentalist and composer Molly Healey once again proves why she is one of the most distinctive crossover artists working today. A reimagining of a standout track from her 2019 LP Circles, the new version elevates the original into something bolder, darker, and more sonically engulfing, the purest expression yet of Healey’s self-defined genre, Orchestral Dance Music (ODM).
For more than a decade, Healey, also known for her long-running role as fiddler for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, has been “bringing the orchestra to the rock show,” fusing classical instrumentation with electronic grooves in ways that feel both cinematic and deeply physical. “White Noise” is the sound of that vision fully crystallized.
Built on layers of violin, cello, synth, and breathy vocals, the track swells and coils around a propulsive beat crafted by Dave Tough (Belmont University), creating a brooding atmosphere reminiscent of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, the trip-hop shadows of Massive Attack, and the celestial intensity of AURORA. Yet nothing here feels derivative — Healey’s imprint is unmistakable.
Lyrically, “White Noise” cuts close to the bone. It’s a song about isolation in the digital age, about feeling drowned out by the static of modern life while wrestling with self-loathing that grows in the quiet spaces between screens. “The lyrics are personal… the mood comes from my dreamscapes when I close my eyes at night,” Healey reflects, and that vulnerability radiates through every phrase.
Recorded entirely in her home studio and mixed by Tyler Norris (Ma6io) with mastering by Duncan Ferguson (The Voltage Exchange), the 2024 version of “White Noise” feels richer and more texturally alive than ever. String lines unfold like emotional monologues; rhythmic pulses thrum like a quickening heartbeat. An animated music video, currently in production, promises to extend the track’s dreamlike visual world even further.
The album With the Wind explores a wide spectrum, trance, downtempo, trip-hop, all anchored by Healey’s instinctive string writing and her ability to make orchestral music feel not only contemporary but urgent.
With this release, Molly Healey isn’t just expanding her sonic universe, she’s redefining the possibilities of orchestral music in the electronic era. “White Noise” is immersive, emotional, and utterly unforgettable.