Album Review: Katie Malco - 'Failures'

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On her debut album, Failures, Katie Malco and her telecaster lead listeners down a winding path of longing and nostalgia. 

“How the hell did I end up down south?” she sings on the opening track, “Animal.” A delicate piano intro gives way abruptly into a powerful indie beat -- like a lightning both striking. It’s a brave start, given the song’s personal background. 

“I couldn’t go home, but being out every night meant drinking or doing drugs every night,” she said in a statement about the track, noting that her own struggles with addiction took her to dark corners or, as she sings honestly, down south without realizing it.

“Sometimes it was genuinely fun and sometimes I became acutely aware that I was desperately grabbing at something I couldn’t find in my sober life – happiness, stability and a feeling of general ease. There was one night that always sticks out to me in my mind as a real low point because I was being a really bad drunk – embarrassing myself and feeling really unwell – and that’s what Animal is about.”

Though this is her first record, Malco isn’t entirely new to the game. She’s toured throughout the UK and Europe extensively, opening for acts like Jenny Lewis and Julien Baker. 

“I watched you fly on the rides at Coney Island, the wind was biting,” she sings on “Brooklyn,” a track that showcases Malco’s ability to write lyrics less abstractly. The result is a beautiful sense of imagery of the city.  “The taxi drove too fast, the skyline rushing past our window, but oh how we danced to the country band. We drank and swayed, we told everyone it’s your birthday.”

There's a significant sense of melancholic despair in the songs, as well as bits of anger and frustration. 

“You left to go chase my dreams...and I know I can’t match up to her, so I’ll be what you need even if it kills me,” she sings on “Fractures.”  It’s a realistic dose of heartbreaking self deprecation. “I don’t blame you,” she continues, “I’m not the easiest company, I don’t care about you, I don’t care about me.”

Failures runs to the gamut of human emotion with tracks that will likely sound even more touching in front of a live audience. Until then, there’s plenty of time for Malco to start to work on the next sentimental collection of songs. 

Words by Allison Rapp