How awkward. It would seem someone has forgotten to tell Australia’s Mallrat that the second album is supposed to be difficult…the sophomore struggle! Instead her new album, Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right, is like really good and it’s out today.

Experimenting further within the realms of electronica, the singer/songwriter/producer plays with UK 2 step and Hyperpop, balancing them with the calmness of Country on tracks like recent single, ‘Horses’. For an artist who has said, ‘Sampling is my favourite thing about making music’, she does not let us down with source material, effortlessly incorporating samples sung acapella in Finnish, an Irish choir singing in Gaelic and then some Memphis rap.

Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right may not adhere to the curse of being a ‘difficult’ second album per se but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t pain behind-the scenes. During the recording process Mallrat was dealing with the passing of her sister and the loneliness she felt when returning home.

Loverboy spoke with Mallrat via Zoom and the light from her Miffy lamp to discuss esoteric Uber drivers, the smell of eucalyptus and her friendship with Amy from Amyl & The Sniffers.

Good evening, Mallrat!
Hello, good to see you. I love your Björk poster behind you.

Thank you. What is your favourite Björk song?
I really like Army of Me. I also love that the other day the video popped up on my feed of when she hit that reporter. I just love her so much. In all of her interviews she is so kooky.

She is. Love her. Now, importantly, I wanted to ask how the light is with you today.
Well, the sun went down about half an hour ago. I do have my Miffy lamp. And actually I can show you my bedside lamp named Ideas. He is a bear with a bulb above his head which comes on every time he has an idea.

And how often is that?
Every day. He is full of them.

How are you acknowledging the release of Light…?
Well, I am throwing a party here in Melbourne with all my friends. Is there a dress code? No, but I want people to feel really cool and comfy and to wear something crazy to dance in.

Also we cannot ignore that today is Valentine’s Day. What is your relationship with this day?  
I’ve never had a Valentine, so I don’t have any feelings about it. I think if I had a Valentine I would be like, ‘They better get me flowers or else!’ But equally I can lean into the idea that it’s a day to make people buy things. But also buy flowers anyway! Support florists!

Which song are you most excited for people to hear from the album today?
Honestly, Track 01 I love. That’s my favourite at the moment, ‘My Darling, My Angel.’ It’s really fun to sing, it’s just an interesting song. The other day I was rehearsing because I am supporting Kylie on her upcoming Tension Tour and it was so crazy to think, ‘Oh I’m actually going to be singing these songs live for the first time in an…arena!’ Imagining that made me love the song even more.

I cannot stop playing ‘Hocus Pocus.’ I read that you damaged your arm when you heard the demo?!
Yes! That morning I had flown back into Melbourne from America and I was trying to stay awake. So later in the day I went out for a drink but I wasn’t drunk! I literally had one drink and some pizza with a friend down the road from my house. Then I was walking home, listening to my demo, which I do obsessively then as I was crossing the street to my front door, I fell over and fractured my arm. I had to have it in a sling and a cast. It was so annoying.

At least we got a great song at the end of it.
Exactly!

My personal favourite right now is ‘Hideaway.’ It really gives me that UK garage energy.
Aw thank you. I started that song with my friend Gab whose artistic project is called Japanese Wallpaper. We started it together and then I finished it with Styalz Fuego who I also work with a lot. It’s really fast and it’s about how fun it is to have a crush, I guess.

On this album we have a Cub Sport sample, an Finnish acapella vocal sample, an Irish choir sample…I love how you incorporate them all. Which is the most obscure or unexpected sample on this album?
I think they are all pretty unexpected. There is also the DJ Zirk sample on there which is pretty gritty Memphis rap. Not that the samples on ‘Pavement’ are that obscure but having the Cub Sport sample, kind of a deep cut to be honest, then the DJ Zirk vocal, is definitely unexpected.

Do you experiment with Field Recordings too?
Well, I have recorded things but I haven’t actually used them. Often it’s an Uber driver. I have this collection of Voice Memos that are called Esoteric Uber Driver and it will be like an Uber driver talking about my aura or just…life or something. I always secretly hit record, then think I probably shouldn’t use that without their permission but I always want to.

You could make it into an alias and post it up on Bandcamp.
Yeah it would be like the equivalent of when rappers have voicemails as interludes. I would use them for my version of that.

I feel you do not come from the ‘Less is More’ school of production, which I love about this album. Do you feel that having a concept helps you zone in on exactly what is right for the album in terms of production?
I would say it’s more instinctive, less logical or about a concept. And it’s a song by song instinct thing.

When you’re layering the production is there a way to tell when you have put sufficient in there?
I think it’s when I am working on the song and I stop having interjections of, ‘Wait. Stop. That’s not right. It needs to sound like this’ or ‘The energy isn’t right here.’ When those notes slowly disappear then I am like, ‘OK, it’s done.’

Some artists say a song is never done. It’s always evolving even when you are out touring the record. Do you feel like that?
I honestly don’t have that problem so much. There have been certain songs, now and then, that have kind of felt like that where I have just kept working on them and made a million indiscernible changes. But it’s not a regular occurrence for me which is a blessing.

‘Pavement’ feels experimental in terms of song structure, where you’re not even singing the chorus, it’s the two samples instead. Have you felt that experimentation this time?
I think I have just felt less nervous about trying that kind of stuff. I have always done it here and there and enjoyed different structures. But yeah I think especially because I made a conscious decision to lean into some of the dance elements, there wasn’t such a need to justify those sorts of decisions.

Tell me about this visual motif of horses…
It’s interesting there are horses in so many of my music videos, not even just for this album, but previous ones too. At one point it was just because I liked horses so much that I wanted an excuse to be around them, like, ‘Let’s just put one in the video.’ But I think it’s because I’ve maybe always attached them to an idea of a very free version of myself. It feels like she would be riding a horse.
Even when I was a little kid, I would be in the back of the car on long drives, looking out the window and imagining I was outside of the car, riding a horse alongside it. I would do that for hours. I think I always just imagined it as an escape from whatever was going on when I was a kid at least.
But then there is so much cool mythology. In the ‘Teeth’ video the horse is a reference to Lady Godiva who is a pretty cool historical figure.

I know she was the one who rode naked on the horse but I can’t remember why. What was her story?
She was doing it in protest. She was married to a rich man who wanted to raise taxes on his tenants, I think. So she basically said, ‘I’m going to ride around the city naked in protest.’ That’s also where the term Peeping Tom comes from. Godiva told everyone to not look out their windows because she would be riding through the city naked to keep their taxes low. But then this one guy named Tom peeped out of his window. He was the only one. So the story goes.

I am just watching S11 of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Kathy Hilton has just called Sutton Stracke a Peeping Tomassina! So now I know where it comes from!
Oh my God. That is bringing back some memories. I’ve only watched bits of that season. Those girls! Obsessed.

This album is about returning home and feeling lonely. You and I both kind of divide our time between two countries. The longer I spend away from England, the more I think of ‘home’ as a period in time, less than a geographical location. How do you feel?
That is such an interesting question. I feel most at home in Melbourne. But Brisbane is my home and I would never say that I am from Melbourne. When I think of home, in one sense I think about childhood or my teenage years actually. But then in another sense I think of where I feel most comfortable and who I feel most comfortable around. So I feel there are two answers to that.

Are there any things that link Los Angeles with Australia for you?
Yes, it’s the trees. They have so many eucalyptus trees in LA that at some of the places where I have stayed, I’ve woken up, looked out of the window and all I can see is gum trees. So I can pretend I am back in Australia.

To those of us living in Europe it feels like Australia is maybe having a bit of a musical moment with you, Amyl & The Sniffers, Troye Sivan, Royel Otis, Hatchie, Cub Sport, Blusher coming through…in fact I’m going to hear a bit of Dungeon Synth next week from Quest Master who is also Australian.
I don’t know Quest Master. They’re Australian? Ok I am writing this down in my notes for later. There’s also Confidence Man as well. It’s really exciting. I think Australia has always had really interesting indie/rock music, some pretty good exports. But it’s also cool to see some pop and dance exports happening. But also side note: Amyl & The Sniffers are incredible. I love them so much.

They are. I saw them here at Primavera Sound last year playing during sunset and it was so epic. Have you seen them live?
Yes, I’m actually quite good friends with them which is so cool because Amy is the biggest rock star ever. Something we have both realised we have in common is a big love for Dolly Parton. So a couple of times a week we send each other clips from Dolly Parton interviews. It’s so nice. It’s our little way of checking in with each other.

Do you have a favourite Dolly quote?
Oh my God. There are so many good ones. The first one that comes to mind is when she was a kid walking through town with her Mum or something and she pointed to this lady and said, ‘That’s the most beautiful lady I’ve ever seen.’ Her Mum then said, ‘That’s the town tramp’ or whatever. But Dolly said, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.’ She is obviously so funny, so clever, so compassionate and generous as well. I have so much admiration for her, for a million reasons. She is so special.

From one diva to another. Lastly we are named after the biggest-selling single of 2001, so we always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey song?
‘Obsessed’ is my favourite. There are so many things I like about the song but I think hearing the auto-tune on her voice like that is very cool. It’s also important to remember that at that point in time using auto-tune was really frowned upon. A lot of people who would have a chip on their shoulder about their own abilities, or felt like they needed to prove their vocal abilities, wouldn’t touch it or would deny using it. Obviously everybody knows that she is such an incredible vocalist so I think that her using it on that track was a real stylistic choice and probably gave it, as a tool, a lot of integrity that it may not have had before.

Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right is out now.
Mallrat tours Australia, America, UK & the EU this Spring/Summer. For dates see www.lilmallrat.com