LA alt-pop trio ill peach channel grief, dissociation, and overheard chaos into “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND,” a volatile, high-octane eruption from their forthcoming album ‘EAVESDROPPING’ that crashes straight through escape and into raw feeling. In our conversation, the band open up about the overheard stories, creative contradictions, and darkly funny chaos behind their music – and how this strange, messy, wildly alive new era came into focus.

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“MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” – ill peach

Grief doesn’t dissolve just because you try to outrun it.

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Sometimes grief explodes in a crowded room – blurring the line between escape and exposure until there’s nowhere left to hide.

ill peach’s “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” captures that rupture in full force, a feverish, volatile alt-pop eruption that churns and thrashes with high-octane intensity. Built on sweaty synths, driving drums, and a disorienting sense of momentum, the track hits like a wave you didn’t see coming – visceral, disruptive, and unapologetically ferocious in both sound and spirit. At the center of it all is Jess Corazza’s performance, raw and razor-sharp yet delivered with striking control and poise, turning a night gone wrong into something electrifying, chaotic, and impossible to look away from.

Head first in the crowd
Riding waves like a pool toy
Rope around the clouds
She’s like a wild card cowboy

Hit the floor
My heartbeat multiplies
See the panic in my blurry eyes
She was on her way out the door
She was on her way it’s how she rolls
She roll she roll she roll
Away she go she go

Released March 25 via Handwritten Records, “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” is ill peach’s bold and blistering follow-up to February’s equally explosive “CULT DADDY.” The Los Angeles-based trio – Jess Corazza, Pat Morrissey, and Jesse Schuster – first met in high school in Minnesota before evolving into one of alt-pop’s most unpredictable and compelling voices. “We’re best friends and all have very different tastes in music,” Morrissey tells Atwood Magazine. “I would describe this as alternative or grit pop.” That tension between backgrounds and instincts pulses through everything they create, fueling a sound that thrives on contrast, friction, and fearless experimentation.

“MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” also opens a wider door into ill peach’s next chapter. The song appears on the band’s forthcoming sophomore album EAVESDROPPING, out June 26 – a record built from overheard fragments, internal spirals, social discomfort, grief, and strange little snapshots of human connection. “The album really derived from my horrible habit of eavesdropping,” Corazza says. “Every song is an exaggerated version of something that was overheard either through me or through one of the guys or a friend.” This fly-on-the-wall framework gives “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” even more charge: It isn’t only a confession, but a scene overheard from the inside out.

That energy feels sharper and more focused than ever here. “The music we are making today feels more fun and focused,” Corazza says, a statement that rings true in the song’s relentless forward motion and tightly wound chaos. There’s a sense of control within the disorder, a band pushing their sound to its edges while keeping every piece locked in place.

For Corazza, that focus came from loosening her grip. “As a writer I felt like I was less precious,” she says. “And I was really open to trying again and again which was a new thing for me. Some of those songs were written and rewritten multiple times to get the melody and message right. Which took forever but I felt like this time we just knew where the compass needed to land.” That sense of precision matters here: “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” may sound like a body in freefall, but every collision, pulse, and lyrical fragment feels placed with intent.

No Molly’s not a friend
Not a, not a, not a –
No Molly’s not a friend
Not a, not a, not a –
No Molly’s not a

At its core, “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” is rooted in a deeply personal experience.

“[The song] came out of a night I thought might numb something in me,” Corazza explains. “I went to this party, still deep in grief after my dad passed, and decided to take MDMA. It backfired immediately. But the strangest part wasn’t even the physical spiral – it was how hyper-aware I became. I felt like I was listening in on reality in the worst way. Snippets of conversations, people brushing past me, laughter that felt distorted – it was not fun. The song came from that experience – realizing that anything promising escape can turn on you, and that grief doesn’t dissolve just because you try to outrun it. I made Molly a character in the lyrics that described the ultimate party girl, which I found out that night I was not.”

That perspective gives the song its bite. What begins as an attempt to disconnect quickly spirals into forced confrontation, where every sensation is heightened and every emotion refuses to stay buried. “The experience… came from a moment where I was trying to dissociate from my sadness, and instead my body forced me to actually feel it,” she adds. That push and pull between escape and awareness drives the track forward, turning discomfort into momentum and chaos into catharsis.

Sonically, that tension erupts in waves. The track surges with a restless, almost claustrophobic energy – synths buzzing, drums pounding, the entire arrangement teetering on the edge of collapse without ever losing its grip. It’s sweaty, it’s volatile, it’s alive, capturing the sensation of being trapped inside your own head while the world rushes past around you. And yet, even at its most unhinged, there’s precision in the execution – a sense of tact and poise that keeps the song from tipping over entirely.

So blitzed off a bad year
She told me to rewind
Now I’m swimming in jello
Stuck in my mind

She said girl are you good
While rubbing on my shirt
I ask her what I took
As i’m bent up on the curb

For ill peach, that balance is the point. “Each [song is] one piece of a larger, colorful collection of moments – each taking on its own character, like stepping into someone else’s life,” Corazza says. “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” stands as one of those moments in sharp relief: Messy, overwhelming, and vividly human.

That larger collection gives the song an added emotional weight. Across EAVESDROPPING, ill peach turn overheard stories and half-caught exchanges into a crooked, colorful portrait of people trying to make sense of themselves in public and private. Lead single “CULT DADDY” kicked the era open with a surreal story of power, control, and cultish masculinity; “SMALL TALK” later zoomed in on autopilot conversation and social boredom, while “CRASH COURSE DUMMY” captures the raw discomfort of watching someone try too hard to connect.

Corazza points to “RODEO” as another vital piece of that world – a song born from overheard hardships, consolation, and the strange comfort of realizing everyone is carrying their own impossible ride. “Everyone has small and big life shit that happens and you just gotta move through it,” she says. “Because that’s what we do. We try to help each other through hardship.” In that light, “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” feels less like an isolated spiral than part of a broader emotional map – one where grief, panic, humor, and survival all keep crashing into one another.

That’s what makes this era of ill peach feel so alive.

The band aren’t sanding down their contradictions; they’re letting them spark. “Honestly, I hope people have fun listening to this album,” Corazza says. “It was a lot of work, but we also danced and laughed and cried making it.” That range is the point: The music thrashes and flashes, but it also aches; it makes room for absurdity without losing sight of the hurt underneath.

With “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND,” ill peach don’t just capture a feeling – they throw you directly into it. This is volatile alt-pop at its most visceral and unfiltered, a high-octane rush that refuses to soften its edges or tidy up its truths. In embracing the chaos rather than escaping it, they deliver a track that doesn’t just hit hard – it lingers, unsettles, and demands to be felt long after the noise fades.

ill peach recently spoke with Atwood Magazine about the grief, chaos, overheard stories, and hard-won clarity behind “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” and EAVESDROPPING – and how a bad night became one piece of a much bigger, beautifully crooked world. Read our conversation below, and let “MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” pull you straight into the spiral.

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:: stream/purchase EAVESDROPPING here ::

:: connect with ill peach here ::

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A CONVERSATION WITH ILL PEACH

Pat Morrissey: We all went to high school together in Minnesota. We met in this a cappella group called MadJazz but Jesse played bass. I really don’t know how we started with that and ended up making the music that we make in ill peach. This album I would describe as alternative or grit pop. We’re best friends and all have very different tastes in music. That may come to you as a surprise.

Jess Corazza: I’m a more throwback girlie. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, anything in that era, are staples but a few standouts over the recent years that I’ve found really inspiring are IDLES, Amyl & the Sniffers & Ecca Vandal to name a few that have really caught my ear and attention. The music we are making today feels more fun and focused. It was a challenge to do a concept album, but it also felt really nice to contain this overall theme.

Jess: As a writer I felt like I was less precious. And I was really open to trying again and again which was a new thing for me. Some of those songs were written and rewritten multiple times to get the melody and message right. Which took forever but I felt like this time we just knew where the compass needed to land. The album really derived from my horrible habit of eavesdropping. And I had the idea right after THIS IS NOT AN EXIT. I was like, ya know you guys are always saying I do this thing, so why not write about it. Every song is an exaggerated version of something that was overheard either through me or through one of the guys or a friend.

Jess: Well this story got embellished and exaggerated a little to make “CULT DADDY,” but the short answer is yes. Which come to find out there are lots of these micro “cults” that exist. It’s crazy how relevant it is with current events. Sonically, this felt like an ode to My Bloody Valentine. It was a challenge to create this wall of sound and have it all fit together with a nice little bow. Mixing it was a bitch and we bow down to Carlos de la Garza because it was no easy task. But overall we felt like it was a nice reintroduction to us since we haven’t put anything out for a minute.

Jess: “Molly’s Not a Friend” came out of a night I thought might numb something in me. I went to this party, still deep in grief after my dad passed, and decided to take MDMA for the first time in a long time. It backfired immediately. I got so sick I spent most of the night on a curb, throwing up. I was sort of forced to overhear everything around me in this very unsettling trippy way. I wrote “Molly” as a character in lyric who’s the ultimate party girl and I found out I’m not.

Jess: The experience that formed “Molly’s Not A Friend” came from a moment where I was trying to dissociate from my sadness, and instead my body forced me to actually feel it. Getting really sick at a party and ended up hyper-aware of everything around me. I kept overhearing fragments of conversations and feeling completely outside of everything – like everyone else could move freely while I was stuck in thick mud. Its one piece of a larger, colorful collection of moments – each taking on its own character, like stepping into someone else’s life.

Jess: “RODEO” was so fun and it’s one of my favs also. The song is actually a demo we started years ago and while doing a deep dive on the hard drive we were like wait a minute this is pretty sick. I hadn’t written anything over it just mumbles. But I did have the hook melody and that felt like something special. I rewrote this song a bagillion times. My guiding compass was like ok I have these mumbles and a melody so we need to write this so it feels like what we hear. Very challenging. I thought of “RODEO” as a concept because if you’re an eavesdropper (let’s be real we all are in some way); so many people meet up with someone and sometimes the convo circles around the same thing. Why is life so hard. I felt like after my father passed away I kept overhearing these snippets of hardships and it really made me feel not alone. That everyone has small and big life shit that happens and you just gotta move through it. There was always this balancing force where one person would be saying, “I can’t believe this happened to me…” and on the flip side their friend would console or give advice. Because that’s what we do. We try to help each other through hardship (well if you’re a good person ha). So the song is about life is the bull that we ride and you can’t control it. It will buck you off, it will take you for the ride of your life. But if you kinda just let go and enjoy the ride, it will all work out in the end.

Jess: “CRASH COURSE DUMMY” was written about that one person in a social setting who’s trying so hard to fit in you can feel it from across the room. The loud, unfiltered type where the desperation almost becomes uncomfortable to watch. Like nails on a chalkboard. During the making of EAVESDROPPING, which involved a lot of people watching, I kept noticing this character everywhere. Someone overexerting themselves just to connect while somehow drifting further away from everyone in the process. I weirdly relate to that feeling. I’m pretty introverted, and loud environments can completely drain me. I’ve walked away from so many conversations feeling like I was performing instead of actually connecting. That’s where the song concept came from.

Jess: I love the whole album. Each song takes me to a different place. I’m really f***ing proud of us. One that emotionally gets me and why I chose to put it at the end is Ashtray. It just feels so heartbreaking in a world where people are finding it hard to find love and their person. It may not sound hopeful, but I find it kind of is. Like finding the power in yourself to saying goodbye opens the door for hello.

Jess: Honestly, I hope people have fun listening to this album. It was a lot of work, but we also danced and laughed and cried making it. It really has such a range of emotions and if you can connect to each story or song in some way, it will make it all worth it.

Pat: I’ve been listening to a lot of Bad Bunny and Flaming Lips and that first Geese album rips.

Jess: Rosalia really blew me away with her most recent album, LUX.

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:: stream/purchase EAVESDROPPING here ::

:: connect with ill peach here ::

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“MOLLY’S NOT A FRIEND” – ill peach

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