“exquisite, lush . . . audacious aesthetic” – Stereogum
BOSTON (June 7, 2023) – Jaggery frontwoman, Mali Sastri, releases her first solo album under the name Singer Mali on September 22. The album “Lodestone” explores humanity’s dichotomy, the destructive and restorative, love and conflict, individual, familial and societal, and the introspective and external struggles that comprise the wide-ranging aspects of those experiences. All of this is done with the inventiveness Mali is known for through blending and juxtaposing the familiarity and accessibility of pop music with elements more often associated with jazz, classical, musical theater, world music, and the avant-garde.
“Lodestone” showcases Mali’s growth as a songwriter since the release of Jaggery’s last album, “Crux,” in 2016. Mali says, “This is my first album in my forties, and so I’ve grown overall as a person. I think the songwriting reflects that, with more attention paid to looking outward than looking inward.”
Singer Mali recorded “Lodestone” at the same studio Jaggery recorded their last album, Brick Hill Studios with bassist/engineer/producer Jon Evans (Tori Amos, Linda Perry, Chris Cornell). Though this is not a Jaggery album, Mali worked with three of her Jaggery bandmates, Tony Leva on bass, Dylan Jack on drums, and Rachel Jayson, who played viola in the string quartet and orchestra. Mali’s multi-instrumentalist brother Raky Sastri, was a guest guitarist on “Terror Targets,” “Blink,” and “You & the Stars.”
The first single, “Play Pretend” exalts into a tangoed embrace between the joyful love of romantic relationships and the anguished sighs within them. Sung through a wonderous lens, “My Nature” addresses climate collapse, looking at human nature and the drive to tamper, meddle, manipulate, master, and conquer the world around us. The album’s anchor, the self-titled single, “Lodestone,” a love song for and about her partner of ten years takes on an almost ethereal, supernatural quality while feeling like a soundtrack set to a boundless love story.
“Lodestone” Track Listing
- Terror Targets
- My Nature
- Wayside
- To Evolve
- Play Pretend
- Lodestone
- Stop
- Blink
- Dynamical
- Inheritance
- You & the Stars
About Singer Mali
Singer Mali is a singer/songwriter, performer/composer based in Boston, MA. For over a decade, she has been the primary songwriter, lead vocalist, and frontwoman for the avant-chamber pop/art rock band Jaggery. Jaggery has garnered national and international praise for their “exquisite, lush . . . audacious aesthetic” (Stereogum). With Jaggery, Mali has released six albums and two EPs and toured nationally. Other Jaggery accomplishments include selection for Boston’s Outside the Box Festival (2013, 2016) and a commission to create a Leonardo da Vinci-inspired song cycle by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2015). As a solo artist, Mali has toured internationally and composed works for dance (Luminarium Dance), experimental theater (Liars and Believers), and in collaboration with painter Steven Bogart (Ten Paintings, Ten Songs). In 2018, she was a featured speaker for Princeton composition Ph.D. students and served on a panel for a New England branch of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest.
Tour Dates
Fri June 16th – The Newberry Artistan Market, Saugerties, NY
Sat June 17th – Barbes, Brooklyn, NY
Sat June 29th – First Church, Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA
Fri Sep 22nd – Lodestone album release show, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
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