Mal Blum returns with new LP, The Villain, out via Get Better Records -- a striking resurgence that combines the artist’s trademark blend of searing and wry lyricism with novel boldness and slight camp amongst a backdrop of textured indie rock, alt-rock and pop instrumentation.
The album is ultimately a work about human complexity and the stories we tell ourselves versus the stories we are told about ourselves. There is no one villain. Sometimes the villain is an unreliable narrator, sometimes a misunderstood character, sometimes a heel-turn performance of villainy. Perhaps most notably, given the historical and rapidly mounting demonization of trans people as villainous bogeymen (attitudes explored on tracks like “Killer” and “A Small Request”), often the villain appears to be a purposeful construct that never truly existed at all. The listener is left not with easy answers, but invitations. Welcome to your Villain era.

CHARLIE MTN.: