Berlin in your Bedroom: Mall Grab’s Gift to the Isolated

After several years of teasing fans with a steady trickle of singles and EPs, Jordon Alexander AKA Mall Grab has released his first album since 2015. Although, it’s not your typical studio release. According to his label Looking For Trouble, Worship Friendship is “a collection of dubs, demos, club tools and noises from the mind of Jordy”. It also seems that this album is a gift to the isolated, as Jordon has promised to donate the profits to those who are currently in need during this tough time.

Jordon Alexander, known as Mall Grab

Known for his reminiscent deep house sound, and heavily respected tunes like ‘Liverpool Street In The Rain’ and ‘Catching Feelings’, Mall Grab seems to be venturing further into experimental lands with this release. As opposed to letting the mind drift, Worship Friendship is a full-on auditory experience. It’s hard to nail down exactly what kind of music it is, but it sways from his classic house style to almost industrial-level techno. Whilst the heavier tracks are solid in their own right, this change in pace can be quite jarring. I suppose that comes with the territory when you’re putting out a compilation of demos and unreleased beats; perhaps it’s difficult to craft a sense of flow and unity throughout an album when doing a compilation of this nature.

Mall Grab’s 2016 single ‘Kalumbo’ was hard-hitting, and ‘The Real Thing’ from earlier this year was pretty weird and leftfield. He’s not exactly a stranger to these concepts, but a 20-song album which generously incorporates these elements is actually quite hard to listen to in one sitting. Maybe this is no surprise considering some of the new tracks have fully capitalised titles like: ‘FUCK YOU’, ‘DIRTY’, and ‘AGITATED’. It depends on taste, but we think this may be a bit too much for some who are used to Mall Grab’s established sound. Regardless, Worship Friendship still contains some wondrous grooves. For example, ‘BELIEVE – FESTIVAL MIX’ gives us a nice glimpse into the old ways of Italo-house, with euphoric piano that seems to satisfy the soul.

'BELIEVE - FESTIVAL MIX' - Mall Grab

Despite this mixed review, we must note that this album is more of a message than anything else. In Jordon’s words…

“Dance around in your room, play it loud, stay safe and support the ones you love - and even the ones you don't, because positive energy will always win”.