Ciao Malz — Safe Then Sorry EP

Indie

Audio Antihero

2024

CIAO MALZ sounds confident, clever and casual on her new EP Safe Then Sorry. Her honest and charismatic indie sound has charm for days.

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I put CIAO MALZ’s “Two Feet Tall” on last week’s king-sized playlist. It’s a perfect bit of indie pop. It feels spontaneous and raw, with wobbly guitar, catchy melody and charm for days:

It’s bright, loose and energetic, and a little playful, both musically and lyrically:

Drinking all the milk and missing all the three-pointers
Think about it still, find new ways to disappoint her

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It’s the lead single from the second EP from CIAO MALZ (aks Malia DelaCruz). Safe Then Sorry is four tracks that all sound playful and rough-around-the-edges in the most charming way, with a little of the wobbliness of “Two Feet Tall”, and some clever literary and cultural references. Her vocal delivery sounds like she’s having fun, and it’s contagious.

Case in point: the second track, “Bad for the Bad Guy” is a midtempo, jangly earworm that references Mary Shelley and Niccolo Machiavelli. It’s a little tongue-in-cheek, and it’s her smile is audible. It takes a lot of hard work and talent to make something sound this effortless and informal:

Even though I’m new to her music, she’s been doing this a long time. Her press bio goes like this:

After moving to New York for college in 2014, Malia stumbled upon a listing for a music studio when she was looking for a studio apartment. Here, she began collaborating with local artists like Hannah Pruzinsky, Ceci Sturman, and James Chrisman of Brooklyn’s Sister. trio. She fell in love with writing, experimenting, performing and collaborating in her Lower East Side studio space, and has continued to make music there ever since.

Safe Then Sorry is a great introduction to CIAO MALZ’s catalogue, and going back into it is worth doing as well. “Around” from her 2022 EP To Go, shares a lot of soul with these songs, down to the lyrics (“Want to fool around/in a town/where no one’s even read a fuckin’ book“):

Safe Then Sorry closes with “Gold Rush”, a patient, sentimental-sounding song with a gentler, more delicate sound than the others, reminiscent of blog fave lucky break.

It’s a record that’s an easy listen, and will be quick to connect with. It takes a lot of preparation and effort to sound this spontaneous, and it has absolutely paid off on Safe Then Sorry.