Meet Malade, the Montreal-based artist breaking boundaries in the music scene. Malade, the gloss-pop project of Montreal-based singer, songwriter and producer Camille Brown.
Malade’s gloss-pop style is a refreshing escape from the male gaze. With a blend of R&B groove and crafty pop, Malade’s music is a sugar-lacquered delight. Get ready for powerhouse vocals, intricate arrangements, and a touch of quirk that sets Malade apart.
“Casting Call” (2024), co-produced with Damien Muller, is Malade’s hot and cold, intimate yet distant take on singer-songwriter pop. Phoebe Bridgers-esque guitar and bass are plucked under a chilling vocal that dips in and out of auto-tune. The infectious run sung on the hook, “Loving you is a casting call,” later thickened with an unyielding vocoder, contains the pain of loving deeply and wholly in the current dating culture. “The culture of love we find ourselves in feels more often than not like a sick competition to keep someone’s attention,” explains Malade. “I see people using the beautiful idea of ethical non-monogamy to latch onto this harmful belief that something, or someone better is always around the corner.” It follows a string of earnest, sugar-coated girlpop releases, singles “Give Up” (2023), “My Energy” (2023) and “Cry” (2022).
Speaking about ‘Casting Call’, Malade said: I made this song with my co-producer, engineer-extraordinaire and dearest friend Damien Muller. The whole process felt incredibly healing to me – I hope hearing it feels healing to you.