In addition to his work with locals Sam Sniper and The Viking Progress, Athens songwriter Nicholas Mallis is known for fronting the indie-folk outfit Yo Soybean, a band that dissolved late last year. Now, Mallis is striking out on his own, and offering up a taste of what folks can expect from his new project.

Below, check out the exclusive premiere of the moody, melodic "Moonrise."

Says Mallis:

I listened to Neil Diamond pretty much all last summer, and then one day in the fall, I realized I was singing everything with a certain element of Diamond-esque exaggeration.  Initially, I was put off by this, but then came to embrace it. I decided to try and mix this vocal style with '60s surf-pop guitar playing and late-'70s-era grooves and wrote a lot of new songs in a short period of time. Jason Ritter (Yo Soybean) and Rick Catanise (Save Grand Canyon) joined me in the studio on drums and bass, and Logan Wallis (Saint Francis) sat in on keys. We tracked some of these songs in the winter, and we're still working on finishing an EP. "Moonrise" is a string of vignettes backed by elements of surf-pop and '70s grooves. When I wrote it, I was listening to a lot of EZFM.

Nicholas Mallis plays Flicker Theatre & Bar on Friday, Feb. 7.