Mali Mali

The artist known as Mali Mali makes for inspired, disarming listening. With flowing piano melodies echoing Elliott Smith and delicately constructed layers of texture akin to the post-rock musings of Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mali Mali (real name Ben Tolich) elegantly tows a line between classic pop-songwriting and aural experimentation. Both meditative and confronting, Tolich’s songwriting speaks with poetic and wry aplomb to matters of the head and heart. The 2018 record Azimuth points towards a starry future for Mali Mali.