She was on tour through the South when the country went into Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown, and found herself abruptly stuck at home.
"I didn’t write or record a lot initially, but once I adjusted to it, I started to think about making use of my recording and producing skills at home," Devine said.
Having studied music production at the University of Otago, Devine had taught techniques to her own students, but had not done a lot of her own recording.
Active in New Zealand and Dunedin music for years, Molly Devine finished a masters degree in contemporary music performance in 2016.
She was part of the core group of singers who performed in all three hugely successful Tally Ho! shows, which showcased the Dunedin Sound through songs orchestrated by Dr Graeme Downes.
With recording equipment set up at home, for the purposes of her music school, Devine had everything she needed on hand.
"So, I decided that I should use those skills myself, and ended up doing the recording, producing, artwork and music videos myself.
"I have a beautiful microphone at home, and a major focus of the songs is the vocals, and otherwise I have keyboards for backing music and making different noises."
The only part she didn’t do herself was classical guitar, which was added to the recordings by a friend in Australia.
The result was a five-song EP. One track from it, entitled Wanderer, explored the "simplicity and easefulness" of life in lockdown and the feelings around moving back into the world.
The other tracks covered a range of topics, from the global financial crisis to a "soppy" love song.
Devine will release the five-song informal EP through Australian online service gyrostream, as well as via a variety of other online platforms, tomorrow.
On Saturday night, Devine and drummer Maddy Parkins-Craig will perform a music release show, from 7.30pm, at The Dive.
