Photo Credit: Ben Rouse

Local songwriter Nicholas Mallis traffics in the sort of crisp, easy guitar-pop that can just as easily soundtrack a midday Hendershot's hang as a post-Go Bar A.M. comedown. Bright and tuneful but with enough existential angst to keep things from turning too florid, Mallis' music nods to his soft-rock forebears while remaining rooted in Classic City strange.

Mallis is set to release a new full-length, Artificial Irrelevance, Apr. 9 via local label Laser Brains, and today we're pleased to premiere the album's title track and accompanying music video.

The clip, shot and directed by Jeff Webber—the keyboardist in Mallis' backing band, the Borealis—features the songwriter crooning in puppet form as he contemplates the meaning of life over a crudely psychedelic backdrop.

Mallis says the song was born during an uncertain time: 

Last summer, my father got extremely ill and I spent most of the month of May staying in a chair next to him at the hospital. It was always hard to sleep so I started putting together a recording on my laptop to pass the time. Later in the summer, after he thankfully recovered, I revisited the recording and filled in the gaps with other instruments and vocals. ‘Artificial Irrelevance’ is what came of it.

Watch the video below:

Mallis plays an album release show at the Caledonia Lounge on Saturday, Apr. 13.