Morgan Mallory’s new single “Bullet”

Slick but not overproduced with a heavy synthetic backdrop (an unfortunately common feature in modern pop music), the rhythmic beats adorning Morgan Mallory’s new single “Bullet” represent our first intoxicating glimpse into the track as well as the formidable backbone of every verse we’ll hear. Mallory straddles them with ease in this song, utilizing their dexterous wallop as a means of emphasizing the emotion he wishes to impart to us here. His motivations are pure, but his delivery is lustfully dirty, adhering to rock n’ roll rebellion as much as it does pop accessibility, making “Bullet” everything that its name would it imply it could be and more.

This track might be one of the more vulnerable Mallory has shared with us thus far in his career, but it doesn’t translate as being steeped in egomania at all – quite the contrary, truth be told. The exposed tone of the lyrics makes us feel as though he’s confessing something to us, even when the statements he’s making are more commentarial than they are diary-esque. He’s using the melody as a way of conveying everything that his words can’t, occasionally contrasting his own feelings with those that would occupy a lover’s (or, for that matter, an audience member’s) heart.

URL: https://www.morganmallory.com/

The guitar parts in “Bullet” are some of the more organic that I’ve heard in a pop single this year, but they never get prominent enough in the grander scheme of things to steal any of the attention away from the true linchpin here – Morgan Mallory’s lead vocal. Most everything in this track is structured around the timbre of his voice, and I actually think that, almost exclusively because of this reason, we’re able to appreciate his vocal range all the more through this design. He’s got a heck of a lot of talent to show off, and he isn’t holding back from us in this single.

“Bullet” enjoys a very sharp production quality, with little to no muddiness on the backend nor the front, but I wouldn’t say that any one component – vocals included – receives a bigger boost in the mix than anything else does. There’s nothing overstated here; in fact, I get the impression that Mallory was likely going out of his way to avoid the pitfalls associated with overindulgence (most of which can be found anytime you browse your FM dial looking for new music). He’s got no room for unnecessary excesses in his work, and that’s more than I can say for many of his peers.

APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/bullet-single/1496470281

If this is just a sneak preview of what Morgan Mallory’s sound is going to consist of in the 2020s, I personally cannot wait to hear more from his brand as the decade comes into focus. Mallory has the potential to do some incredible things with his work, and in the four years that have passed since the release of his debut album Manifesto, he’s done virtually nothing other than improve upon the framework first introduced to us in songs like “Larger Than Life” and “Of This I’m Sure” (both of which are worth a listen if you haven’t already heard them before). I’m excited to see what the future holds for him, and I highly doubt I’m the only one.

Samuel Pratt