A Night of Magic With Mallrat
By Eva McNally ‘25
Earlier this month, Australia native Grace Shaw, professionally known under the moniker Mallrat, stopped at Brighton Music Hall in support of her sophomore album Light hit my face like a straight right. The album, released this past Valentine’s Day, is a bold and exciting departure from her debut album, released in 2022, Butterfly Blue. With nearly three years between them, her growth as a musician and person is evident through her lyrical maturity, experimental production, and fresh sound. Her performance made for a magical night, one that felt like a coven, her songs like incantations for casting spells.
Anna Shoemaker supported Mallrat on the North American leg of the tour. She sat in a chair at the center of the stage, and to her left, Aaron Kennedy joined her. They delivered an intimate opening performance with just two guitars and a backing track. Most of her set contained songs from her latest album, Someone Should Stop Her. “This is a breakup album,” she told the crowd with a laugh. Highlights from her set included “Game of Thrones,” “Miniskirt,” and her current top track on Spotify with over 5.5 million streams, “Holly.”
Mallrat took to the stage shortly after Anna’s set, opening with “My Darling, My Angel” and “Pavement,” the two opening tracks of Light hit my face like a straight right. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but “My Darling, My Angel” can be abbreviated as “MDMA,” the synthetic drug most commonly known as molly or ecstasy. Mallrat, in this interview with Apple Music, states that the song is “[…] about feeling love, but not necessarily for other people. […] To me, the song is more about feeling alive and like a zest for life,” she said. MDMA is known for its empathogenic effects as it releases a surge of the neurotransmitter serotonin, causing feelings of euphoria and a generally elevated mood, increased feelings of connectivity, sociability, and love. The lines “Felt that I was fleshless / Anchored by my necklace” may perhaps refer to the heightened sensory perceptions and bodily awareness associated with the high from MDMA. Maybe I’ve been listening to Lorde’s “What Was That?” a little too much since it came out. Regardless, the song is mystifying, chalked full of sonic texture, spellbinding and twinkling.
“Pavement,” the final single prior to the album's release, illustrates Mallrat’s technical prowess when it comes to sampling. She takes lines from DJ Zirk’s 1994 track, “Born 2 Lose” and fellow Aussie band and good friends, Cub Sport’s “Beg U.” In this interview with Dork Magazine, she says: “Sampling is my favorite thing about making music, even more so than writing lyrics. It’s exciting to be able to imagine sounds in new ways, even if it’s just sampling my own voice. It builds a story and injects vivid characters into the song; it feels more from my heart.” The song contains the album's namesake in the line: “And your light hit my face like a straight right.” The album has a gentleness, like a ray of light streaming through the window and warming your skin that is brilliantly juxtaposed with the violence of a punch to the gut, emotionally charged and at times, destructive.
The silhouettes of Mallrat and the band, consisting of Gabriel Strum, also known as Japanese Wallpaper, and drummer India Pascucci, were backlit and bathed in soft halos of light. The fog machines, spewing mist from the left side of the stage, enhanced the venue's moody, dreamy atmosphere. Mallrat wore a leather top in the shape of a butterfly studded with silver grommets which appears as the single album cover art for her song “Teeth.” She donned long gloves that extended beyond her elbows, almost like wings. With headphones over her ears, looking like she was ready to DJ a Boiler Room set, she made use of the stage space bopping from one side to the other as she sang.
She took a step away from Light hit my face like a straight right and played two songs from Butterfly Blue, “Wish on an Eyelash,” the opening track, and “Surprise Me” featuring Azealia Banks. “The Worst Thing I Would Ever Do” came next, then “The Light Streams In and Hits My Face” straight into “Hocus Pocus.” The two tracks, which appear back to back on the album, seamlessly transition into each other. “Hocus Pocus” is produced by Kito, who has also produced songs for FLETCHER and Jorja Smith, and Styalz Fuego, who is known for working with Troye Sivan. In this article from SNIFFERS Magazine, Laura McInnes writes that “Hocus Pocus” “[...] speaks to spellbinding infatuation, blending melodic rap-sung vocals and sugary hyperpop.” The song is addictive, offering a rich, gritty, and unique sound.
Keeping on the album’s theme of light, she next played “Ray of Light,” the first single for the album cycle that marked the beginning of a new era. Next in the set was “Something For Somebody.” Mallrat admitted that she had always wanted to incorporate her favorite word into one of her songs, and thus, the next song of the set “Defibrillator” was born. “Teeth” followed.
“I’m going to play one of the first songs I ever released,” Mallrat said towards the end of her set. She expressed her gratitude to the crowd for being there and listening to her music. She talked about what it’s like playing in Australia, her home country, versus North America where her name is less known. She beamed as she thanked the crowd for dancing and singing her songs back to her. With that, she launched into “Groceries,” which has garnered nearly one hundred million streams on Spotify. The song was featured on Billboard’s “Best Songs of 2018: Critics Picks” and was ranked number seven in the 2019 Hottest 100. Both are amazing accomplishments for a new artist on the scene. The song perfectly encapsulates the bedroom pop sound that was immensely popular at the time, with synthy, sparkly beats and shiny vocals, akin to say, Clairo’s “Pretty Girl” or Claire Rosinkranz's “Backyard Boy.” The song chronicles having a crush, and how an activity as mundane as buying groceries can become something thrilling and intimate when such intense feelings of a blossoming crush are involved. This is the only song from her “In the Sky” EP that appeared on the set.
She played “R U HIGH,” a song released in collaboration with production and DJ duo, The Knocks and then “Virtue.” She dedicated the next song in the set, “Horses,” to her late sister, Olivia, who passed in 2024 after the song was written. The track, the third single leading up to the album's release, is an ode to their hometown, Brisbane. The song is driven by the acoustic guitar, its emotional weight was palpable in the room. The first verse opens with the gut-wrenching lines: “Drive past the station and it looks the same / I wonder how many faces have changed / And if I sat down on platform two / Could that bring back you?” Despite the song being written before Olivia’s sudden passing, much of the song can be interpreted as Mallrat talking to her as she traipses through Brisbane, reminiscing about their youth, overcome with nostalgia as she recalls the places they used to go and the things they used to do. The song deals with the insurmountable grief of losing someone you love and the intense feelings that come with it. It is a poignant closing track on the album. The tracks “Charlie,” a tribute to her dog, and “Rockstar” followed.
She closed out the set with a two-song encore: “Hideaway” and “Love Songs / Heart Strings.” “Hideaway” is driven by a hypnotic garage club beat which starkly contrasts her light, airy vocals. The song’s production is comparable to PinkPanthress’ in the best way. Finally, “Love Songs / Heart Strings” samples “Light Streams in and Hits My Face” and includes Imogen Heap-esque layered melodies. It brilliantly ties the two tracks, “Hideaway” and “Ray of Light” which occur before and after the song in the album respectively, together. With that, she played every song from the new album.
Later this month, she’ll be playing at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City and Bottlerock Music Festival in Napa. She’ll wrap up her tour in early June in Los Angeles. Light hit my face like a straight right is an album brought to life by Mallrat on stage, eloquently capturing the magic that can exist everywhere. Through her witty lyricism, dreamy, distorted, yet emotionally charged vocals, sparkling sound, and production wizardry, she creates a sonic experience for everyone. Her album is the perfect companion for a period of immense transition, learning how to navigate in a chaotic and unpredictable world.
