Mallbangs Premieres New Single 'Make Believe'

Atlanta indie pop project Mallbangs shares the final single from their upcoming EP Checking For Daggers, "Make Believe" via premiere at FLOOD Magazine. Following prior singles "New Face" and "You Can Have It All," "Make Believe" carries a markedly more positive disposition.

Mallbangs' mastermind Aidy (they/them) delivers a sunny, buoyant song about questioning one's gender identity. With their vocals embracing the somber haze of Elliott Smith, there's a nice contrast with its poppy, upbeat arrangement.

Speaking on the songs' writing process, Aidy says:

"Make Believe" is the one song on the album that just sounds fun! Probably the most positive song I had written in a while, I started writing it one night after I moved into one of those hundred year old houses in Grant Park, Atlanta. It was right around the beginning of the pandemic so everything was still up in the air, and this song came out of nowhere, and happened very quickly. Connor Dowd of Lunar Vacation ended up writing the drum part for it. If it isn't obvious from the first verse, this is about questioning one's identity, specifically gender identity."

Checking For Daggers, out 10/21 via self release, was recorded at Atlanta's Big Trouble Recording with TJ Elias, produced by Daniel Gleason, and mastered by Daniel Milice at Engine Room Audio in New York. Mallbangs is the project of Aidy (they/them) and their various friends and collaborators. Daggers features appearances from Connor Dowd (Lunar Vacation) as well as Benjamin Homola and Daniel Gleason (Grouplove).

In March, Mallbangs, the project of Atlanta Musician Aidy, put the finishing touches on their finest work to date. Their upcoming EP, Checking For Daggers, is the second they've worked on with Grouplove's Daniel Gleason, following 2021's Put Me Out.

On Daggers, out October 14th via self-release, Aidy and Gleason take the subdued instrumentation of their prior work and pull it to new, more experimental territory. There is a sense of something being held back on Put Me Out, a tightening of the reins. This is where Aidy finally lets go, and leans into just how incandescent their music can be.

Checking For Daggers comes from a place of contemplation, finding Aidy exploring narratives of personal affliction and identity from a new perspective. With all the hopelessness in the world, it's hard not to find yourself feeling and thinking existentially. To combat this, Aidy leaned on their community as a means of survival.

There is always community inherent among those who create art and music, and the Atlanta music scene was no different. Checking for Daggers features appearances from Connor Dowd (Lunar Vacation) as well as Benjamin Homola and Daniel Gleason (Grouplove).

Listen to the new single here: