mal sounds Announces Debut Album 'Don't Hold Your Breath'
Brooklyn-based dream-pop artist mal sounds (real name Amal Buford) is releasing his debut full-length album, Don't Hold Your Breath. According to NME, he has also been selected for the BandLab × NME Get Featured program, which puts emerging artists' work in front of NME's global audience. The album marks his first full-length statement after two atmospheric EPs — Freak And Wild Things (2021) and Still In New York (2024).
Origins and concept
The mal sounds project traces back to early 2020, when Buford flew to Valencia, Spain, to visit his grandmother and ended up stranded there by the COVID-19 pandemic. In interviews, he's said that with social distractions stripped away, he was finally able to ask deeper questions about why he makes music. In 2021, his chillwave single "VVS" went viral on Instagram, cementing the nostalgic dream-pop sound he's built on since.
The album's title, Don't Hold Your Breath, reflects his reflections on today's music industry, where he says every artist is effectively forced to become their own A&R, constantly calculating their next move. The record's core narrative circles two ideas: the cycle of relearning the same life lessons at different stages, and what he calls "un-shrinking" — breaking free of the self-boxing people do for safety or to please others.
Sonically, Buford approached the album with a producer's mindset, using hollow guitar reverb to mimic the cavernous feel of the inside of a brain, drawing heavily on ambient music and shoegaze listening logic. In this sound world, vocals function less as narrative device and more as an anchor pulling the listener's focus into the scene.
The BandLab Get Featured program
mal sounds' selection for the BandLab × NME Get Featured program is part of an initiative designed to spotlight emerging artists. Buford is himself an active BandLab user, describing the platform as "social media but for musicians," and says he regularly discovers new work from unfamiliar artists there.