“ROULETTE” Single & Music Video Release
About the song:
Brooklyn native mal sounds is set to release his third single of 2022, “ROULETTE” - a spiritual successor to his two latest releases “Interstate” and “VIDEOGAME.” It will be available everywhere on Wednesday, October 12th with the music video dropping the same day. The track feels like a last-gasp of summer love and nostalgia, a breezy indie bop with lyrics that openly admit the fear of finality that inspired them. Mal, producing alongside collaborator KLUSS, stays true to his signature moody synth progressions while contributing his own guitar playing to accent the melody. It’s a feel-good song on the surface, but listen closely and you may also identify with the undercurrent of anxiety uncertainty, and desire for something.
Like the other recent releases, “ROULETTE” was written during a period of change for mal, who goes by Amal Buford IRL. With a background in fiction writing, it makes sense that much of Amal’s work in recent years comes from a place of escapism - his last EP was literally written while stranded in Spain early in the pandemic. The video places us squarely in mal’s world - not quite Brooklyn but instead the cinematic, dream-like version of it that his music inhabits. Set like a short film in 4 acts, the video takes us through an abstract trip through his memory: “Saw you in the film I was watching, I done lost my mind. I still get the chills when I’m talking - I forgot my lines.”
Shot by Jordi Perez and edited by Amal, “ROULETTE” continues the film-inspired aesthetic that has defined this early part of his career. Mal incorporates 80s and 90s aesthetics into his music videos as naturally as he cherry picks from genres, or thrifts clothes. In a digital age where most niches have become not quite so niche, he bends these aesthetics to his unique voice.. It’s a solo affair, and those 3 minutes serve to highlight mal in a moment that sees his star rising thanks to some exciting streaming and social media growth. Now, at a time when his life is changing quickly and he’s faced with more big questions than answers, Amal offers this song as a plea for a normal type of life, or in his words:
“...at least a life where the big answers come easier”
Single released via Terrible Records. Music video was produced by All My Friends, Ent. with photography by Kyle Zarba.
Below, read about mal’s collaboration with AMF on this project. Scroll to view photos from the shoot, captured by Kyle Zarba.
Directed by: mal sounds & Jordi Perez
Produced by: Khalil Flemming & AMF
Videographer: Jordi Perez
Photographer: Kyle Zarba
Edited by: mal sounds
Styling: Julian Boykins
Label: Terrible Records
About the collaboration w/ AMF:
This music video is the first collaboration with All My Friends - mal has been a part of the AMF family since the early days, and has trusted Khalil as a partner on various creative from time to time. As both “brands” saw 2022 as a year of growth and output, we agreed that a visual for one of his upcoming singles would be a great next step in the partnership. “Russian Roulette” emerged as the favorite for this project, with a subsequent name change as we considered the state of international affairs, preferring to avoid the wrong side of whatever algorithm Google is using now. Mal would proceed on his work with the other two tracks, and AMF would handle production on “ROULETTE.”
We enlisted Jordi Perez as videographer, a frequent collaborator of mal’s and a budding visual artist in his own right. The photographer on the day was Kyle Zarba, a longtime member of the AMF family music family who was able to flex his eye and shutter finger on his first photo gig with us. Our collective goal was to create a suite of visuals that would capture the aesthetic of the video, and content that we could proudly share in partnership with an artist who is poised to break out. For AMF, it’s an important moment in cataloguing our work with great talent and building our portfolios as independent creatives. For mal, we believe that he deserves to be highlighted at every opportunity, and that we won’t be the only ones to fall in love with his music, his look, his artistry, and the great individual behind them all.
Please enjoy the selection of photos by Kyle Zarba below. This collection is all shot on film, with additional digitals to be made available here on the site and elsewhere on the internet.
