Mallrat shares brooding new single ‘Teeth’, sets May release for debut album

“I like to think that if ‘Teeth’ was out in 2004 it would be on the 'OC' soundtrack”

Mallrat (aka Grace Shaw) has officially unveiled her debut album, ‘Butterfly Blue’, sharing with the news a dark and stormy new single titled ‘Teeth’.

Veering away from the bouncy and buoyant indie-pop stylings of her earlier work, ‘Teeth’ sees Shaw tap more into her ‘90s alt-rock influences: over a bed of deep, subtle-yet-impactful bass guitars and warbling atmospherics, the Brisbane artist – whose vocals are drenched in reverb – sings with dry, gloom-inflected restraint.

After a punchy, fuzzed-out drum machine beat and gravelly, distorted guitar line kicks in around the 43-second mark, she sings: “In my prayer, I don’t speak / But with my hands and on my knees / When I ask, I receive / Don’t play fair, don’t be sweet.”

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Have a listen to ‘Teeth’ below:

In a press release, Shaw said: “I like to think that if ‘Teeth’ was out in 2004 it would be on the OC soundtrack. In the song I describe a big, omnipresent ‘it’. When I wrote these lyrics I was playing with the idea that we talk about sex and prayer and violence and power with very similar language. I wanted to see if I could blur all of these things into one blurry ball of energy.”

‘Teeth’ comes our third preview of ‘Butterfly Blue’, following the release of ‘Rockstar’ (another rock-inspired cut) in October of 2020, and ‘Your Love’ (a synthy trap-pop track) exactly a month ago. The record itself will be out on May 13 via Dew Process, serving as the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Driving Music’ EP. Preorder bundles are available now from Shaw’s website.

“I’ve always valued music that is interesting, beautiful and unpretentious,” Shaw said of her upcoming full-length debut. “Something timeless and not reactive. ‘Butterfly Blue’ was made with that in mind. It’s a demonstration of not pretending to be anyone else.”

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According to the press release, ‘Butterfly Blue’ saw Shaw drawing notable influence from pop, rock and folk acts, and experimenting with a range of unique sampling techniques. Among those are “chopped-up Gangsta Pat bars” as well as “a flipped recording of a children’s choir performing ‘Lisztomania’ [by Phoenix] and distorted effects recorded from discarded children’s toys”.

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