Mal Blum plays tonight at Slowdown’s front room.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Some thoughts on Mal Blum’s music before tonight’s concert at Slowdown…

I’ve been a fan of Blum since somehow discovering the 2019 album Pity Boy (Don Giovanni Records), a collection of post-punkish singer/songwriter tunes that grabbed me immediately thanks to their clever melodies and even cleverer (more clever?) wordplay. 

Blum, who lives in LA, even has a Saddle Creek Records connection, having released a 7-inch in 2020 as part of the label’s Document Series, “Nobody Waits” b/w “San Cristobal.” 

On those recordings, Blum brought a unique approach to songs about relationships and identity, capturing a personality that’s charming, funny, sad and introspective, plus they rocked in an awesome ‘90s indie rock sort of way. I loved the records. 

As I listened more closely, I came to appreciate how Blum’s music also draws from their experiences as a trans and queer person. That got me thinking: is it right to interpret a song purely through your own lens without knowing the songwriter’s lived perspective? A love song is a love song; a broken heart feels the same no matter who has it. Anger, resentment, fear, these emotions are universal, but knowing an artist’s story can bring a deeper layer of meaning, even if your personal connection to the song came first.

This comes into focus on Blum’s new album, The Villain, released this past July on Get Better Records. Any questions about the album’s meaning were answered prior to listening to it, thanks to the promo’s one-sheet:

“The Villain focuses on relationship to others, while also prioritizing relationship to self. The songs explore not only the destruction of partnership but the rebuilding of identity, with a lingering question of what is truly ‘bad’ or ‘right.’ It is not an album about being trans, but the album themes are firmly rooted in, and contextually informed by Blum’s trans-masculine and non-binary perspective.”

The one-sheet continues:

“Relatedly, in addition to being Blum’s first full-length album since 2019’s Pity Boy, and fifth LP, The Villain will be the first album developed for their voice’s lower register after several years on testosterone. This process prompted them to examine their own relationship with masculinity reflected against a cultural narrative that reviles gender transition. Within certain tracks, they take on the role of the trans villain, red cape and all: (“I killed the previous tenant/in my head/or so they said” Blum quips on “Killer.”)”

It goes further, but that’s the basic context. If someone were to hear one of these songs on the radio (I know, what’s radio?) they would have no way of knowing the song’s backstory based merely on the lyrics. And so, the song would take on a meaning unique to that listener’s experiences. Discovering the song’s context after the fact merely adds another layer of meaning, but does it have to change what the song meant to the listener before gaining the backstory? 

For me, the answer is no. Learning the songwriter’s background doesn’t erase the connection I had before knowing it. In my mind, the song “Too Soon,” off Blum’s new album, is a gorgeous break-up song. For Blum, it may carry a very different weight. Both interpretations can stand side by side — one deeply personal to the listener, the other inseparable from the artist’s lived experience.

Ultimately, Blum isn’t writing the music for me or for anyone else; they’re writing it for themself. But what I get out of it, well that’s mine as well. 

Playing tonight with Mal Blum is tour-mate Charlie Mtn., the alt-country project of queer singer-songwriter John-Allison Weiss. Weiss may be more known for their earlier post-punk outings, like 2013’s Say What You Mean. Weiss switched it up to pop-country five years ago with the Charlie Mtn. release GD EP. Apparently a full-length is in the works, which you’ll probably get a taste of tonight. Opening at 8 p.m. is Omaha indie-folk band Settling Houses. $20.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.