Unpicking personal themes of struggle and loss, the NYC-based songwriter draws on a turbulent chapter in his most open and thrilling work to date Leading up to his debut album ‘Avanti’, Alex Konschuh – better known as Malice K – had fully embraced life’s chaotic ways. After upping sticks from Los Angeles, the singer-songwriter took a one-way flight to New York in order to focus on his art. He spent the following period in the Big Apple bouncing from party to party, drifting around the parks and subway stations while battling addiction, homelessness and the resulting mental health fallout.
READ MORE: Malice K: the underground NYC shapeshifter is a true original ‘Avanti’ is born from a moment of healing and stillness after that storm, but the trauma from that time looms large across the listen. Just take the opener ‘Halloween’, as a splurting nicotine-tinged yelp gives way to a gritty acoustic anthem. Damaged and haunting, Konschuh’s breathless vocal has all the hallmarks of a cult hero as he gasps atop a grungy sonic palette, immediately pulling you into his dark and curious world.
The album is largely built around Konschuh’s raw, scratchy acoustic guitar which fosters a sense of intimacy as he unpicks the turmoil. One of the more disarming examples of this comes with the ballad ‘Radio’. It’s a piercingly open moment, with brooding ‘Basement On A Hill’-era Elliott Smith strings lurking ominously as he yearns: “ I’m trying hard to be someone .