“I used to think I could talk to birds,” says Mollie Elizabeth, one of the most intriguing new musicians around.

“I learned at a very young age that I trusted nature more than humans. Animals can be violent and cruel but there’s always a reason for what they’re doing, whereas humans do things that are unnecessarily evil.”

Ostensibly the 22 year-old from Washington state — Twin Peaks country — makes theatrical kooky art-pop but listen closer and there’s something real and often dark here.

“My music and my aesthetic have always been intertwined because I was finding ways to make life enjoyable when I was in such a dark period of my life,” she says, referring to what sounds like a difficult childhood.

On breakthrough song Run Rabbit, which sounds like a jaunty carnival showtune, she’ll sing, “My mother taught me to just survive, put on a smile, just find a vice.”

Her Instagram handle is @doeyedfairie where she gives full rein to a pixie girl image but it’s underpinned with real grit. “Music was how I processed the world without it feeling too heavy,” she says.

“I’m a big advocate for rose-tinted lenses. When things get really hard I would much rather sing a song about it than dwell on it. I don’t shy away from talking about the hard things I’ve experienced, but what’s really helped me heal is putting into words what I’ve experienced and then filtering it through a whimsical lens. I like to think I’m able to share that safe space with my audience.”

Her new EP, People Pleaser, is a satirical mini-masterpiece which playfully but spikily takes apart the society standards expected of young women, “the many twisted, weird dark webs that are coated in this sparkly pretty lens”.

Gimme More! laughs at money obsession (“Don’t be stingy, sell a kidney”) while Puppet Show skewers the plastic surgery industry. It’s the first fruits of her relocation to Los Angeles this year, where after post-Covid years of releasing music on socials she made the big city move and signed a record deal.

“It’s very strange, coming from a secluded life in the woods to LA where it’s all billboards, opulence and designer goods.”

She does her grocery shopping in LA in princess dresses and fancy hats as the self-created world of Mollie Elizabeth begins to creep into the real world, and with her first London date sold out and a proper tour next year, she has been surprised to see the buzz.

“I’m letting people know they’re not alone. If you’re feeling crazy, join the club. If you’re feeling broken, join the club. Be as strange and weird as you want. I’ve learned other people really enjoy that. I had no idea.”

Mollie Elizabeth’s EP People Pleaser is out now. She plays Hoxton Hall on November 17 and Union Chapel on February 17