Blue Mallee - Shout That Whisper

Blue Mallee

Shout That Whisper
self-released; 2022

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Funk
​

Blue Mallee is a Sydney, Australian based singer/songwriter guitarist. He Initially fronted  the indie folk band (Master Tiger) for ten years, a solo musical project branched in 2019 after receiving a music grant to record his debut EP Shout That Whisper which was recently released.

The release contains six songs which are Americana influenced songs. I thought there were inventive things happening with the production and song structure. The first song “Never Really Coming Back” starts simple enough with guitar and harmonica. It’s a lonely and melancholy tone but certainly not hopeless sounding. The guitar sort of fades into this pad which I thought was unique and interesting. It’s sort of shoegaze and you can hear some distortion running through its veins. A steady bass drum comes and something about the song reminds me of Nick Cave. It’s definitely an original sounding song and my personal favorite. Great start to the album.

“Horizon” is around thirty-seconds long and revolves around vocal and guitar work. It didn’t feel like a transition to the title track “Shout The Whisper.” “Shout The Whisper” is a solid song that displays the vocal chops of the artist. It’s soulful and emotive. The band The War on Drugs came to mind on this especially when the bright chorus arrives. This song is arguably the most single worthy in the batch and also contains an epic outro that reaches for the moon.

“GO!” did feel a bit different to me. The song sounded somewhere between Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows and Rusted Root. It’s the most vibrant and upbeat track yet. The feeling is often quite empowering. 

Things mellow out on the emotive “Rocks & Cattle.” This song wraps you in warm pads, acoustic guitar and other elements. It’s a bit of a slow burn as elements are added like drums. The song has a sense of nostalgia but also of perseverance. 

I loved the way the guitars were treated on “Take Me Somewhere Into The Wind.” It sounds like they may have some type of filter and a hall reverb on. This allows for the vocals to really come though. There’s a huge sense of space with this song. The dynamics stay fairly neutral but the harmonica which ends the album similar in the way it starts was perfect.

​This is a heartfelt EP. There’s no doubt about that. The songs were well delivered and hit upon key patterns of energy which bring about a slew of emotions. There’s a lot to appreciate here so take a listen.

bandcamp

linktree

Tweet