Montreal psych act Mal are comprised of longtime friends and musicians Ben Griffiths, Bobby Lehoux, Marshall Vallaincourt, and Patrick McDowell. Their debut album, Live Forever, shows a captivating rock sound, often rewarding listeners with atmospheric, slow-burning build-ups into majestic, cavernous displays of guitars, vocals, and rhythms — reminiscent of Spiritualized and Mercury Rev. The track “Sunstealer//True Believer” is a fine example of this. A slight key-laden shimmer and creaking guitar accompanies dazed vocals to start. As the 01:30 mark nears, the vocals ascend with hypnotic appeal, as guitar distortion and a thickly reverberating rhythm section provide dense layers of enjoyable melodic captivation. The final two minutes does well in capping the track off, injecting some post-punk tones that remind of early Interpol.
Stream the release’s other five tracks below:
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“Sunstealer//True Believer” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of June 2019’ Spotify playlist.
