First Listen: Holler Staff Reacts to Molly Tuttle's So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Every so often, an album comes along that feels as if it has a hidden strength, more of a purpose than one would initially think, and just by its existence is making a statement. For a female listener in particular, Molly Tuttle's So Long Little Miss Sunshine strikes an unexpectedly deep chord, bringing bluegrass into a contemporary realm that’s full of intensely relatable experiences of girlhood, growth and gaining self-confidence.

Sonically it crosses Californian country melodies, early 2000s vibe angst rock and pop so catchy the first comparison that comes to mind is Carly Rae Jepsen. Throughout it all, though, Tuttle remains present with her virtuoso skills and pursuit of musical passions.

On tracks like the blissfully breezy ‘Golden State of Mind,’ Tuttle weaves affirmations like “there’s no valley I can’t cross or mountain I can’t climb” with lyrics like “found myself when I let you fly away” to create something remarkably precious. It’s a moment of self-reflection that doesn’t criticise or think badly of the past version of yourself, instead looking back with understanding and gratitude for a journey of growth.

It’s not a case of this being an album of feminist anthems, of overarchingly obvious taglines that you might see at a protest or march; at its core, this is simply just an exploration of oneself and a yearning to dip into new sounds or ideas just for the joy of it. It’s an album of defiance in the most honest, most self-defining way possible. We’ve no doubt that this album will shine a little brighter for anyone who’s experienced the momentous growth of looking expectations in the eye and realising, “I just don’t care.”

Whether it’s the bluegrass traditionalists that have questioned Tuttle’s talent purely based on gender, the people that debated her ability to take the tradition and shape it into a modern setting or the sexism and misogyny that female musicians are devastatingly guaranteed to face, the bottom line is that Tuttle just doesn’t care anymore. What’s more, hearing the bluegrass prodigy that has bared her heart and soul on stage time and time again unexpectedly cover the 2012 Charli XCX hook “You're so damn hard to please, we gotta kill this switch / You're from the '70s, but I'm a '90s bitch” found its place in our top music moments of 2025 instantly.

Carrying on with her tradition of closing with an autobiographical track, ‘My So-Called Life’ fills an unabashedly poppy track with deeply personal life moments, yet once again reaches out a hand to all her listeners that just… get it. If anyone was doubting her, Tuttle’s signature flatpicking is fuelled by fire in between each verse.

We don’t want to hear anyone saying “this isn’t Molly” simply because she’s taken steps in a new direction. The extraordinary talent of Molly Tuttle that we know and love is blatantly still around, her musical skill perhaps only expanding. If anything, she’s reaching an audience that perhaps wouldn’t have found themselves in her previous bluegrass work, but will find themselves in her most selflessly vulnerable project to date.

“This record was a way of saying goodbye to the version of myself that tried to blend in, to be ‘sunshine’ for everyone,” Tuttle says, “now I’m just trying to be real.”

So Long Little Miss Sunshine is as real as they come.

For more on Molly Tuttle, see below: