Artist: Malachai

Album: Return to the Ugly Side

Genre: Pop-psych
Label: Domino

From their first album, The Ugly Side of Love, the Bristol-based & genre-less duo, Malachai, are back with a more focused, yet still mildly ambiguous second album Return to the Ugly Side. It’s still hard to believe that this odd pair has managed to attract and keep the attention and support of major labels, (Domino & Island), but maybe now is the time for major record labels to be experimenting and allowing artists to take risks and be edgy… maybe… but probably not. I think it has more to do with Domino Records’ Geoff Barrow, of Portishead, being in their corner than anything else, which explains the major support behind a middle-of-the-road album.


Return to the Ugly Side drifts along its 14 track song set in quick fashion and blends endings & beginnings of songs together for a very nice unifying effect throughout the album. It counteracts the various style changes nicely and allows for better flow. The only downside this offers is one could find themselves running 3 or 4 songs together as there isn’t a large amount of dynamic change between some tracks. Unlike their first album, I still can’t really find a stand-out single that jumps out at me.

I DO however have some favorites. Track 9, “The Don’t Just,” has a great energy and through the dark beginning, we get a great switch in the chorus that lifts the song back up and keeps it from dragging. It mixes modern electronic hints with real vintage drum beats and even throws in some garage guitars. This is the kind of eclecticism is what keeps Malachai interesting and stays them from growing stale. Similarly, track 6 “(My) Ambulance” gives us some gushy and delightfully imperfect vocal harmonies by Gee that float over great samples provided by Scott. To best enjoy most of this album, turn your bass up high and really feel the funky parts when they hit. They’ll be unexpected and sudden, but in hindsight they’re always in the right places. For more fun, check out the Sgt. Pepper inspired “Anne” and the dreamlike “Rainbows (Featuring Katy Wainwright).

If sifting through 90’s era Brit-pop, 60’s era psychedelia, touches of elaborate strings, drum & bass style and more modern splashes of sampling and pitch correction sound like a good time for you, check this album out. It falls very far from just about all current music laced with big hooks and in-you-face beats, but if you can find the intricacies, you’ll be rewarded with a solid listen.

Score: 5/10
Review written by: Eric Dexter

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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