MOLTENO Emerges from the Deep with “Treading Water”

October 24, 2025

MOLTENO Emerges from the Deep with “Treading Water”

With the release of "Treading Water" on October 17th, ethereal alt-pop seer MOLTENO rises from the depths, clutching the waves of emotion in her hands. The otherworldly first glimpse of her forthcoming EP, Element 3, the song is a testament to water — that elusive element that holds and drowns, soothes and crushes. With this fourth release of her four-part elemental series, MOLTENO welcomes the listener into a realm of liquid vulnerability and fortitude, wherein weakness is its own way to be powerful.

Sonic world-builder extraordinaire, MOLTENO has already burned with Element 1 (Fire) and drifted on the winds of Element 2 (Air). And now she dives underwater, excavating love as lifeline and undertow, one indistinguishable from the other. "'Treading Water is about the vulnerability of clinging when love is drowning,'" she says. "It's about that middle place — struggling to maintain your head above water while the tide is pulling you under." She turns this struggle into something noble, this slow movement between pushing and releasing.

The music itself is a tide moving — fine vocals drifting like scum atop hypnotic piano currents and orchestral swells that ebb and flow under the lunar pull. Every note is like a gasp before the leap, every lyric like a splash of naked exposure. With signature honesty, MOLTENO brings together the heavenly and the terrestrial so that they're one with each other, producing a soundscape that feels limitless and close all at once. It comes as no wonder that she's received praise from WONDERLAND, EARMILK, NOTION, and BBC Radio 6's Tom Robinson, who has called her a creator of "fully-realised worlds."

Other than the music, MOLTENO's skill is also brought into the visual arena — her world designed in collaboration with green fashion revolutionaries like Longshaw Ward, Eirinn Hayhow, and most recently, BECCI. In Element 3, the ocean-inspired visuals exude ethereal loveliness, true to her own greatest love for nature and storytelling. Following hypnotic performances at Camp Bestival, Colours Hoxton, and Camden Assembly, MOLTENO now embarks upon a new wave — "Treading Water" is not just a song, but a transition. It is the sound of holding on to letting go, of a musician learning to tread water in the middle.