Mal’s style has been steadily developing over the last year, with the previous single ‘Oven’ infusing this soft, poetic sound with trip-hop-inspired embellishments, a move I adore. ‘Oven’ is a direct continuation of Mal's groundwork with the last EP, but it expands their sonic palette into a much more avant-garde and intriguing direction. The layering of vocals, with subsequent tracks getting the slightest bit more delayed, accompany this warping and bending wall of background sound to create something beyond psychedelic.

With the release of her debut EP “In Free Fall,” Hauser created a VR experience to pair with her collection of songs. The exhibition of artwork, music videos, and the songs themselves signaled an emphasis on presentation, especially during a year when live presentations and exhibitions were not possible.

People are not simply one thing, and neither is their work. Creatives, especially, are unique in their disposition, a quality that’s reflected in their work and the way in which it engages with an audience. That is what was so evident in my conversation with Mallory Hauser, aka MAL. She went through some tangible pieces of work that inspired her and her music, but our dialogue would continually come back to things much less tangible—things like more abstract ideas of self-fulfillment and artistic ethos. It offered a careful reminder that is always needed when talking to artists: expression is intentional, but inspiration might not be.