To find Malloy’s music, look up. That’s where your heart will be; your soul; your spirit; what-have-you. It will be caught in the ether, up, up, where Malloy’s voice lifts strains of inspiration, passion, recollections of Sam Cooke, Donnie Hathaway, lilting melodies from cloud-tops. The upliftment vibe has a legacy, as Malloy spent formative years singing with Dakota Moon; a soulful rock band that released 2 CDs on Elektra Records, toured the world and enjoyed moderate success both in the US and abroad; allowing Malloy to connect with fans & friends worldwide, grooming him for international success. This, his first solo foray, worked as a collaboration with Moon guitarist/vocalist, Joe Dean(aka MoJoe), the CD’s producer and instrumental focal point. Dean’s seductive acoustic six-string is like a lost lover searching for vocal melodies over soul-sodden moors. You don’t hear a lot of R&B singers writing to or ‘vibing’ with acoustic guitar, and then sometimes you wonder why you don’t hear it all the time. The sentiments behind the love songs are the ones you wished you had either the forethought, courage, or timing to say to your sweetheart right when it mattered most. Malloy’s musical background is eclectic and engaging. He names Prince, Sade and Marvin Gaye as some of his biggest musical influences, but also appreciates a wide range of jazz artists, mostly due to the influence of his father, a jazz lover. He grew up in Long Island, New York, the sway of gospel seeping into his consciousness from church, but never considered himself much of a singer until a friend asked him to join his band after hearing him sing to the radio. “I never joined choir because I didn’t think I had a voice, despite the desire to sing. But when my Bible-studies teacher asked me what would I wish for if I could have anything I wanted, I knew. I wanted to sing.” But the songs speak their own story. “Innocent Lovers” is a funky-cool detailing of a seduction from the heart. The plea is ages-old: If ‘Innocence’ can’t believe that love is real, then what chance does any love have? “Please help her to see that love’s not an illusion/ and when a star falls it’s not cause for delusion/ ‘Cuz if her heart breaks, don’t we all tumble down?”. We’re all familiar with “Morning Love”, that pledge of fidelity supported by a bit of dawning naughtiness. “So Beautiful” clings to you, an earnest testimony to lovestruck beauty; an honest, almost mournful wail on transcendent themes. But through it all, it begins and ends with that voice, and the adventures held therein. Malloy is intending to change the parameters of how soul-singing can hit you; which as an undertaking is ambitious, cool, revealing, & artistic; and in the end, all that matters. written by: David Jamison