Avant-garde genre-bending trio Mola Oddity, comprised of Birdy K, Yider and Asr, have become representatives of vibrance and absurdity. Tying electronic, rhythmic, jazz-tinged and alt-pop elements into a melting pot of warping sonics has surrounded much of their work. Their debut album, The Other Side of Hope, was released to both Chinese and Western audiences with two different editions, building their fanbase in pockets around the globe and setting a fire of inspiration as they do so. With a brand new music video unveiled for ‘Half A Sadday Saving Time’, we asked them some questions and got to know them better.
With an aesthetic across your sound and visuals that are bold and defiant of categorisation, how important is the visual element in creating the full Mola Oddity experience? How does the new video represent this?
We have always believed that the presence of visuals in relation to music—whether in videos or graphic design—carries a significant sense of response. However, this response is organic. It unfolds through a resonance of taste, then moves toward openness.
When we decide to collaborate with other creators, we intentionally maintain a certain creative distance for a period of time, avoiding excessive communication. We believe that a touch of unfamiliarity allows trust to grow freely and enables each artist’s vision to expand beyond predetermined expectations. This approach has shaped all of our visual collaborations for our debut album.
How did the concept and collaborations for Half A Sadday Saving Time come together?
Together with director Laurent Nathan Grey, we envisioned three cinematic chapters for this album: “Mola”, which explores self-discovery; “Half a Sadday Saving Time”, a race against time; and “Marmalade Day”, an exploration of the boundaries of desire.
All three visuals exist between reality and illusion. With the addition of director Baku Hashimoto (橋本麦) to “Half a Sadday Saving Time”, the story unfolds in a visibly dazzling way, presenting time as aggressive, radiant, and obscure—where humans coexist with its many facets.
Your album The Other Side of Hope has a sense of sonic adventure, with intricacy in the arrangement and shifting textures. Can you walk us through your creative process? How does a song typically start and evolve?
Our creative process always begins with rhythm—the heartbeat of the song. The drums set the foundation, and from there, everything else takes shape.
It took us over a year to complete The Other Side of Hope. Due to COVID, we found ourselves constantly moving between cities and makeshift spaces, adapting to uncertainty. In the midst of these challenges, the textures and sounds we wove into the arrangements became more than just sonic choices—they symbolized a fragile yet unyielding light, our unwavering belief in survival.
Ultimately, every track on this album is both a journal of that human catastrophe and a testament to resilience—a deep, unspoken gratitude for simply being alive.
The English version of the album was released late last year, what inspired this reinterpretation, and how has this transition been for you as artists?
Since our creative process is rooted in arrangement, and we often compose melodies in a non-verbal, intuitive way, language itself becomes part of the journey. Both our native language and English serve as different lenses through which the music unfolds.
This time, we invited two English lyric co-creators, Xiao Shui and Peteristic. They are the Chinese translators of Richard Brautigan’s short story poetry collection Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970. Through the interplay of languages, I was deeply impressed by their grasp of the original meaning and delicate emotions—it was a delightful surprise!
Not only did they understand my intent, but in the process of translating into English, they infused the lyrics with literary emotion or deepened the emotional literary quality. For example, in the tenth song’s lyrics, they translated my phrase “无边的远走” into “boundless odysseys”, giving the idea of departure a profound and poetic resonance.
While the final distinction is purely linguistic, the way a melody transforms when intertwined with different languages is something we find truly fascinating. Each version carries its own nuances, adding new layers of meaning and emotion to the music.
Finally, can you give us any teasers for what we should expect in 2025 and beyond?
2024 marked the birth of Mola Oddity. Now, as we step into a new year after our first anniversary, we are ready for our new works to speak and truly grow into the name we have given ourselves.