Mallrat has returned just over a year since releasing EP Driving Music with dreamy new single ‘Rockstar’. Reminiscent of 90s ethereal pop icons Mazzy Star, the track sees the songwriter, aka Grace Shaw, croon over hazy, subdued guitars and understated percussion before a wall of distorted, grunge-inflected noise closes the song out. Shaw cites Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves and fellow Brisbanites Violent Soho as reference points.
“All through my teens (and obviously still) I loved the early Violent Soho albums, self-titled and Hungry Ghost – those two albums I’ve listened to a lot and I think that’s seeped its way into the track. A lot of the songs I’ve been writing lately have been me realising my power,” Shaw explains.
Written and recorded in Shaw’s part-time home of Los Angeles, it’s a collaboration with producer Tommy English, who has worked behind the desk for the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Broods, K. Flay and Musgraves.
“I wrote the chorus first, it has a completely different attitude on its own, but when you listen in the context of the verses and the really aggressive guitar outro it completely flips the perspective of everything. When I wrote the rest of the song a year later, I was feeling a lot more sure of myself.
“It’s interesting how time can reframe things that you still think and are still true but just give them a whole new house to sit in. I’ve always thought of myself a whisper singer and not even a very good singer, but when I listen to the chorus of ‘Rockstar’ it reminds me that I have more range than I probably even give myself credit for.”
Stream ‘Rockstar’ below. Per a presser, Shaw is currently in the process of writing and recording her debut album.
