Mal Not Bad, the Los Angeles-based electronic artist and producer, released a new single called "DHF" on August 12, premiering with Under the Radar. The track follows an earlier single, "WIDC," from Mal's upcoming sophomore album, and keeps the shuffling, groove-heavy feel that has marked the artist's recent run of songs. Under the Radar described the song as built around negative space, with staccato drums and needling guitar licks arranged around small, hypnotic hooks rather than a conventional chorus.
Mal Not Bad debuted with the 2024 album This Is Your New Life and has since built a reputation for left-of-center music that mixes indie pop, alt R&B and electronica, collaborating along the way with artists including Hayley Williams, Mk.gee and Jay Som. The new single arrives with a video steeped in Catholic imagery, including an appearance from actor Jon Gries, best known as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, playing a priest.
"This video points to Fleabag, with some personal Catholic references spilling in," Mal said of the clip, adding that it also shows shorts from "Ode to Catholic School," a clothing line tied to the album rollout. Mal called the goal a balance of "play with meaning," aiming for the same mix of humor and gut-punch honesty that defines Fleabag, without spelling out the interpretation for viewers.
Beyond Gries, Mal credited a circle of collaborators behind the video and the wider album cycle, including writer and actor Jill Rezen, musician and ceramicist Wallice, and Cal Kevany and Maia Nelson, both musicians who have worked with Wallice, Rooney, Blondshell and Miya Folick.
"DHF" is the second advance single from the record, fittingly titled SOPHOMORE, following "WIDC" earlier this summer. The album does not yet have a firm release date beyond "early next year," so "DHF" stands for now as the clearest preview of where the record is headed. Fans looking for more from the album cycle can watch the release calendar for whatever single or release date follows next.
The facts
- New single "DHF" premiered with Under the Radar on August 12, 2026
- Second advance single from the upcoming album SOPHOMORE, following "WIDC"
- Video features actor Jon Gries and draws on Catholic imagery
- The video also features a clothing line, "Ode to Catholic School"
- Other credited collaborators include Jill Rezen, Wallice, Cal Kevany and Maia Nelson
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