Malachai Ugly Side of Love

2009 debut album from the artist who has been called the 'B-boy Syd Barrett. Ugly Side of Love is going to fry your brain and serve it up in a full English. His name is Hebrew for 'angel', but he might equally be named after the ginger bloke from Children of the Corn. We're not sure, and neither is he. Strictly speaking though, Malakai's a duo. There's a mysterious figure lurking in the background supplying beats and tunes. But he's a shy sort, preferring the music do the talking, happy to let Gee, the outspoken front person take the limelight. Malakai's from Bristol, and the kind of artist that only comes from Bristol. Dubstep running through their bones. Hip hop in the fingers. '60s Psychedelia in the heart. Only right, then, that Portishead mastermind Geoff Barrow has a thumb in this project.