Mall Girl

“for fans of Deerhoof or Life Without Buildings, the Norwegian art-pop band offer a dreamy, crunchy assessment of the delights of laying on the beach and looking at the stars”
The Guardian

“a riot of contrasts; stuttering drums and ragged peals of guitar are set against warm, effulgent vocals”
The Line Of Best Fit

“playing with the Scandopop formula in thrilling ways—adding crushing guitars to candy-coated choruses, obliterating and then rebuilding the verse-chorus-verse structure”
TIME Magazine

“whatever direction they choose to follow, there is a real feeling that Mall Girl are a band at the beginning of something”
The Quietus

“an unrelenting math pop earworm”
Under The Radar
 

(7th December) –– Oslo trio Mall Girl have released new single "Super Lazy Girl" the latest thrilling taste of the band's new album Pure Love, out 26th January 2024 via Jansen Records. 

Pure Love is the second album from the Oslo art-pop experimentalists, following the band's acclaimed 2022 debut full length Superstar which received notable tips from The Guardian, TIME Magazine, The Quietus, amongst others.

A riveting amalgamation of sounds and influences, "Super Lazy Girl" opens with a spidery guitar refrain with Bethany Forseth-Reichberg angelic voice pondering over 'giving love a real go', before the song explodes into its shapeshifting core section; fusing elements of buoyant indie-pop, with life-affirming dream-pop, all accompanied by the trio's intricate math-rock/midwest emo inflected guitars and shuffling, jazz-indebted percussion.

Of the new single, Bethany said: "Love: it’s really nice, and really scary. This song feels like a bridge between the sound of the young and the slightly older Mall Girl we are now. The song is in simple terms about (the oh-so-stupid & very-2023 term) 'situationships' - and in more complex terms about the fear of committing to something that feels real and more sustainable than hazy nights when you’ve lost your phone and possibly some of your integrity. So, when true love suddenly comes around, how do you know that you are ready for it? I don’t think you know, just have to jump into it and stop being a lazy girl."

Bethany Forseth-Reichberg along with guitarist Iver Armand Tandsether and drummer Veslemøy Narvesen (one of the most sought-after jazz drummers in Norway) combine to form one of the most uncompromising, unique and exhilarating pop outfits coming out of Scandinavia, with Bethany's exquisite voice and intriguing, impassioned prose providing the perfect counterpoint to Iver's explosive guitar work and Veslemøy's gripping drumming.

It was last year when Bethany and Iver had "a major kick on Midwest Emo" and "all things intricate guitar riffs" - as Bethany expanded on the influences at play...

"I had also just seen Big Thief live and felt like Adrianne Lenker had opened up a new pathway in my musical brain. After listening to 'Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You' on repeat for maybe a whole month and forcing Iver and Veslemøy to listen to the riff in 'Simulation Swarm' maybe equally as many times, the process of writing new music started."

An eclectic merging of influences ranging from indie-pop and jazz to midwest emo and math-rock, Pure Love, the second album from Mall Girl, thematically zeros in on just that, pure love. Through first breakups and dating through post-break-up pain and insecurities, the album finds the band proposing questions: “what do I believe in? Who do I want to become? and Where is my life headed?”.

Bethany went on to say: "I guess the album is like a break up album meets a Bildungsroman (is it like an episode of Girls? Maybe). Ironically, the “post-college-rock” sound could maybe go hand in hand with the post college experience I’ve had a go at writing about. I am glad we wrote this album and slightly (very) nervous to let people hear our take on Pure Love."

Mall Girl will release new album Pure Love on 26th January 2024 via Jansen Records. New single "Super Lazy Girl" is out now.