Last week was the official start of fall touring season… which means we’re actually gearing up to see a handful of our phavorite acts for the second time this year… This May, we saw Australian alt-pop singer, songwriter, and producer Grace Shaw – better known as Mallrat, whose noted collaborations include Azealia Banks, The Chainsmokers, and Blu DeTiger – put on one of 2025’s best performances yet at The Foundry amidst a North American headlining tour (which featured our phriend Anna Shoemaker handling support duties) behind sophomore full-length Light hit my face like a straight right, which dropped this Valentine’s Day.
Next week Mallrat will be back in the States for the kick-off of MARINA’s Princess of Power Tour, which will have Shaw opening a month of dates for the Welsh electropop icon, including September 24th at Franklin Music Hall, the dancing queen’s first local headlining show outside of an opera house in a decade and her first return to this particular space since it’s been called Franklin Music Hall. And while MARINA’s disco-forward sixth full-length (PRINCESS OF POWER, which dropped independently this June) might just be her best yet (see: “I <3 YOU,” most recent single “CUNTISSIMO,” and the title track), we’re actually just as excited for Mallrat’s opening set… and here are three reasons why it’s well-worth getting to the show early…
1. LIGHT HIT MY FACE LIKE A STRAIGHT RIGHT HAS A LOT OF BANGERS
Mallrat’s second LP utilizes imagery of everyday life from Shaw’s upbringing in Brisbane’s suburbs to construct a dozen tracks fit for a euphoric celebration counting down to the end of modern life as we know it, with just as many tracks encouraging you to dance it out as those enabling you to blissfully slip away. Super standouts include most recent single (and most danceable number) “Hideaway,” an electropop anthem whose music video features a medieval castle rave that I challenge you to not picture upon hearing the song’s opening beat, and club bop of the highest order “Pavement,” which features a sample of “Beg U” by our phriends (and Shaw’s best phriends) Cub Sport and production by Buddy Ross, who actually provided the music for the first dance at Tim and Sam from Cub Sport’s wedding.
2. SHE’S ALREADY PROVIDED US WITH THE DANCE PARTY OF THE YEAR
Prior to her appearance during the first touring season of 2025, we’d last seen Mallrat in the 215 in September of 2019, when she headlined an unlikely show at metalcore mecca Voltage Lounge on the night that she would turn 21. She’d just released LP #3, Driving Music (featuring now live staple “Charlie,” which was performed that night with Japanese Wallpaper), but was still more than two years from dropping her first full-length, 2022’s Butterfly Blue. However, at her recent stop in Fishtown, Mallrat brought the prowess (and catalogue) of her decade as an alternative pop powerhouse for an hour+, 18-song set featuring 11 of LHMFLASR’s 12 tracks, along with a handful of classics, like “Groceries,” “Charlie,” and “Surprise Me (minus Azealia Banks).” You can almost definitely expect to hear all three at Franklin Music Hall, on a stage as massive as Mallrat’s energy.
3. WE MIGHT GET TO HEAR MALLRAT DO LANA
While phans at The Foundry were treated to a setlist that left little to be desired, and I can’t guarantee that this third reason will actually come to fruition, this July’s announcement of Mallrat as support on the Princess of Power Tour coincided with the release of Shaw’s cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Radio,” a non-single off of Born to Die, Del Rey’s sophomore LP (and major label debut) and celebration of the mid-20th Century’s birth of youth culture, which came amidst the height of the critical commentaries that would go on to establish Lana as the anti-heroine that pop music had long needed. And despite the album’s half-dozen singles that came to often be credited with inspiring the best brands of pop music to come, Mallrat has shared that this particular number had a particularly significant impact on her younger self.
“Lana Del Rey is one of my all time favourite artists, and this song is one of my favourite songs of hers. I love how the melodies and the delivery of the original feel like a national anthem. The lyrics are triumphant and remind me of how incredible it feels to defy people’s expectations. I remember listening to this song when I was a teenager, I often felt really isolated and this song was something that felt like a hopeful connection to my future self. I would listen to it and visualise my life being different.”
*Get your tickets here.
**Listen for a Mallrat classic on the next edition of Philthy Radio, 9/19 (9-11pm ET) on Y-Not Radio.
