Mallrat’s debut album has been a long time coming, but now it’s finally here there’s no holding back - if only to do the music the justice it deserves.
Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Kat Neisler.
“I’ve always aspired to make something that is precious,” says Grace Shaw from her Melbourne home as she talks about the debut Mallrat album ‘Butterfly Blue’, as perfect a summation of a beautiful record as you could hope to hear. The journey to cherished precious work, though, doesn’t just happen by magic. It’s a product of Grace’s journey as an artist and a writer and her fierce desire to use Mallrat as a positive force to release all her staggering creativity.
It’s been a long time coming for Mallrat to release a proper full-length album after releasing her first EP, ‘Uninvited’, in 2016. “I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I’m so excited for everyone to hear all this music and to see their reaction,” she beams. The long journey leading up to the album release has ultimately been a positive one, though, for an artist who has been finely tuning their alt-pop sound. “I’ve released three EPs. The first one was the first songs I’d ever made,” she says. “They were beats that I found on SoundCloud mostly that I was singing over. I was 16 when I made ‘Uninvited’. The two after that, I learned a lot in the process of making them. I got to work more on the production with other artists and producers that I was a big fan of that I really liked. They’ve all been incredible experiences. I feel like I got to go into the album with plenty of experience.”
The thing that marks Mallrat out is everything is Grace’s own vision, carefully curated and arranged by her hand. A lot of this is rooted in a more practical sense of growth. “It’s hard to gauge growth with songwriting, but it’s easier with production and confidence. I feel more confident and a better producer,” she says. Indeed the album was originally going to be self-produced. “I realised that was an ego decision rather than in the best interests of the album because I’m surrounded by some of the most talented producers in the world.” She’s referring to people like Jam City and Styalz, Tommy English and Big Taste, amongst others, all carefully selected by Grace for their unique talents. “Being able to work with them is the sort of experience and knowledge that money can’t buy,” she continues. “You can’t go to the university and be lectured by these artists and my friends. I adjusted my perspective in the process of writing it. It was really nice and took a lot of the pressure off. I reminded myself that I can produce my own album in a few years, but right now, I just want to make the best debut album that I can and learn as much as I can. I’ve learned to not make decisions just to try to prove myself but rather to serve the music.”
