Manchester quartet MALCOM arrive with a clear sense of intent on their debut EP Step Out Of The Light; a four-trackn. Built on driving guitars, sharp dynamics, and a live-wire energy that rarely lets up, the EP positions the band firmly within the lineage of early-00s indie and 90s alternative rock, while still pushing toward something distinctly their own.
Recorded in just two weeks in an underground Manchester studio, the project carries that urgency in its DNA. There’s a rawness to the performances that feels unpolished in the best possible way. It is tight enough to feel intentional, loose enough to feel alive.
The EP opens in full stride with “Running”, a track that captures the band at their most immediate. Darker, restrained verses build toward a chorus that feels deliberately expansive, with distorted guitars and heavy drums locking into a hook that seems designed for larger rooms. It’s the clearest expression of MALCOM’s dual identity: grit and melody constantly pushing against each other without either fully winning.
From there, “Hard Working Blues” leans into heavier textures, delivering a wall of sound that feels almost confrontational in its energy. There’s a looseness in the harmonica and guitar interplay that prevents it from becoming purely aggressive, instead giving it a slightly chaotic, almost bar-band edge filtered through modern alt-rock production.
The EP’s emotional centre arrives with “Silver Tongue”, where the band step back from volume in favour of restraint. Stripped down and more vulnerable in tone, it reveals a different side of MALCOM’s writing, less focused on impact, more on atmosphere. It’s a shift that adds weight to the louder moments around it, showing that the band’s instincts extend beyond sheer force.
Closing track “Step Out Of The Light” ties the project together thematically. As the title suggests, the EP is rooted in a sense of stepping away from expectation and into identity. The band describe it as an attempt to “find our own sound” rather than follow trends, and that sentiment runs throughout the release with a less polished manifesto, more a working document of a band figuring itself out in real time.
That search for identity is reflected in the production choices as much as the songwriting. Producer David Radahd-Jones helps shape the material without smoothing out its edges, allowing influences like The Black Keys, The Killers, and classic British indie rock to surface without overpowering the band’s own voice.
Fronted by Belfast-born vocalist Caz Donaghy, with twin brothers Evan and Max Morgan on guitars and Alfie Summersgill on drums, MALCOM’s chemistry is central to the EP’s impact. There’s a sense of instinctive interplay between the members that translates into tight, responsive arrangements, particularly in the way the guitars weave around each other rather than simply stacking layers.
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Photo credit: Barnaby Fairley
