Australian artist Jordan Alexander, better known to most people as Mall Grab, dropped his debut studio album ‘What I Breathe’ earlier this month. The 13-track record comes via his Looking For Trouble imprint, which has so far released only his own original music. It leans into the typical Mall Grab format of well produced, no thrills house jams, with a few detours across jungle and rave as well. Features come in the form of Nia Archives, Turnstiles’ Brendan Yates, and a collaboration between
British grime artists D Double E and Novelist. It possesses a healthy dose of nostalgic rave flavours in the form of big synth chords and glistening strings on ‘Love Reigns’ and ‘Spirit Wave’, while ‘Breathing’, ‘Metaphysical’ and ‘Intercity Relations’ provide a much more edgy and darkened approach to club music. Dreamy pop vocals and fizzling drum sounds can be heard on ‘Lost In Harajuku’, though perhaps the most unique inclusion is the combination of Brendan Yates manic vocals and dripping pluck melodies on ‘Understand’. Overall its a record that does provide a number of solid productions, and any fans of the industrial-tinged UK rave sound will have more than enough to sink their teeth into, however there are a couple of tracks that we would press skip on come our next play through.
Where to start:
I Can Remember It So Vividly: Robust house anthem
Love Reigns: Nostalgic synth chords and weighty bassline
Patience: Fizzy drum rhythms met with a topline from Nia Archives
Previous from Mall Grab:
Positive Energy Forever EP (2021, Looking For Trouble)
Growing Pains EP (2019, Looking For Trouble)
If you like this then check out:
Ross From Friends – Tread LP (2021, Brainfeeder)
DJ Seinfeld – Mirrors LP (2021, Ninja Tune)
Mall Grab – What I Breathe LP is out now on Looking For Trouble.