It’s been a minute since the Mall broke through with the existential shattering of experimental cyberpunk on all gas and no brakes that was one of 2022’s best albums, Time Vehicle Earth. Mark Plant hasn’t stayed still in the time between either. They’ve since joined their kindred Mississippi / Missouri scene peers in MSPAINT in signing to Convulse Records and have been touring endlessly, with their latest trek bringing them around the States alongside fellow purveyors of static in the dark, A Place To Bury Strangers. That new found creative bond has proven to be a productive bout for each, with the two feeding off one another’s intensity that’s obvious in the release of a new split single. The Mall’s contribution, “The Need”, continues to move this world off its hinges while also offering that crucially anticipated first glimpse into their next wave of energy. Channeling a seething amalgamation of hard EBM being coated by sleek synth-pop that evolves into synth-scorched burner, this is the Mall leveling up by indulging off denied desires that only make Plant sound even more towering. “I need / But I’m empty-handed / I feed / On an empty aggression,” their voice booms across the space-time continuum. This may be one of their most resonant frequencies being sent throughout the universe, for that matter…

A Place To Bury Strangers & The Mall’s “Make Me Feel Anything” / “I Need” single is available now on Dedstrange.