Label: Nettwerk
Released: 13th May 2022
“How can you give me butterflies then tie them up in knots?” asks Mallrat on ‘Heart Guitar’, the sixth track on her debut album ‘Butterfly Blue’. It’s a visceral, crucial question that is at the core of the album.
‘Butterfly Blue’ finds itself at a crossroads – between the ethereal and delicate, the butterfly taking flight, and the edgy, unexpected darkness of those gossamer wings. Mallrat, aka Grace Shaw, is making mammoth pop with a multitude of hidden depths: ‘Butterfly Blue’ is the musical spreading of her wings.
Her straightforward lyrics often spring between holding you close and constantly pushing you away – between falling in love and sticking to herself, between lullaby-like ballads and more hyper-pop heavy rap moments. It’s an album that exists in dichotomies: some that you wouldn’t imagine sitting so comfortably next to one another. And yet, that Azealia Banks verse on ‘Surprise Me’ is a fire that goes undimmed by the presence of tracks like the saccharine ‘Arms Length’. Whilst some moments on the album are a steady trickle of rain, others are a blazing flame. It undergoes a metamorphosis with every track, relentlessly twisting to reach its final form.
Mallrat is a figurehead for a new pop movement – one that embraces distortion and experimentation and a determined reshaping. She’s at once snarling and indignant and angelic and mystical, swirling between personas and sounds. The countless influences that brought Mallrat to where she is now subtly make their mark, but ‘Butterfly Blue’ proves that she is in a league of her own. ‘Butterfly Blue’ is unshakeably ambitious and transformative, presenting a master of multi-faceted pop. She’s equally as adept at the hushed as she is at crunching, high-tempo tracks. ‘Butterfly Blue’ is irresistible and sees Mallrat solidify herself as an unstoppable pop force.
