Mallavora: What If Better Never Comes?

There’s a strange kind of limbo that exists in the weeks before an album release. The music is finished, the artwork is locked in, the tracklist has long since stopped changing, yet for everyone outside the band’s inner circle, the record might as well not exist at all. For MALLAVORA, that moment is exactly where they find themselves now. Their debut album What If Better Never Comes? is ready to meet the world on March 27th. Until then, it exists in that quiet in-between space, finished, but still waiting.

“Its an interesting one, we have been working on this for two years,” Guitarist Larry Sobieraj explains when asked how it feels to be sitting in that moment. There’s excitement, naturally, but also the peculiar tension that comes with letting go of something you’ve spent so long shaping. Finishing an album doesn’t necessarily mean the nerves disappear, if anything, it simply replaces one kind of uncertainty with another. “As an artist even if you’re not working on it directly, you’re sort of conceptualising the album even after it’s done.”

The title of the album itself hints at the emotional territory MALLAVORA are exploring. What If Better Never Comes? is a phrase that feels both deeply personal and broadly universal, the kind of thought that lingers in quiet moments of doubt. “When we first started writing the album, we started at the end,” they say when asked when that phrase first began to represent the record. “I wrote a song about trying to process everything that had happened, I had become quite ill,” Larry further explains how the phrase is actually a lyric in said song.

Whether rooted in personal experience or shaped by the wider atmosphere of the world around them, the title captures something strikingly human: the uneasy question of whether things will ever truly improve. It’s a sentiment that resonates because it’s so recognisable.

Emotionally, the record promises to sit somewhere in that tension between confrontation and comfort. Rather than choosing one over the other, MALLAVORA seem intent on embracing the full spectrum. “Look, it’s not joyful.” Vocalist Jess Douek says with a laugh. “There’s heavy bangers that are quite fun however listeners can expect that if they are dealing with something difficult, we hope that the album can provide some kind of solace and comfort.”

That balance feels reflective of the band’s evolution. Over the past few years, MALLAVORA have steadily refined their sound and sharpened their voice, moving from early singles into something that now feels far more defined.

“Our earlier releases were very on the nose and sort of punky,” they say when reflecting on how the album captures their growth as a band. “With this album we’ve not lost that element. We’ve just matured in the sense we’ve crafted a body of work that’s really considered”

For many artists, the moment when an album finally clicks into place can arrive unexpectedly, a lyric that suddenly reframes everything, a production choice that pulls the songs into alignment, or simply hearing the tracklist in the right order for the first time.

For MALLAVORA, that moment was no different. “We wanted to explore both light and shade and bring a real depth to the writing.” Beyond the music itself, MALLAVORA have also become known for something equally important. Their advocacy for disabled fans and greater accessibility within music spaces. It’s a subject they’ve been unafraid to address openly, something that, in an industry often slow to adapt, carries real weight.

“When we put out Disorder and we reached so many disabled people around the world, that’s when the responsibility kind of set in a bit,” they explain when asked when that advocacy became something they felt compelled to speak about publicly.

Speaking up on issues like accessibility isn’t always straightforward. There’s often hesitation, the worry about being perceived as difficult, or the fear of pushing against industry norms. Yet that openness has had a clear impact on their connection with listeners. For many fans, seeing their experiences acknowledged so directly by a band can be powerful.

“We need to make sure our fans can come to our shows. It’s made us look around, look at the industry, look at our peers. Also look at what’s going on at grassroot level.”

With a debut album arriving and the possibility of bigger stages on the horizon, accessibility is something MALLAVORA are already thinking about carefully when it comes to their own live shows. “There are almost no small grassroot venues for bands our size that are accessible. We made a commitment early on to only really play wheelchair accessible venues which as it turns out, it’s really difficult to achieve.”

The conversation around accessibility in music spaces is gradually growing louder, but there’s still a long way to go. For MALLAVORA, the idea of “doing better” within the industry isn’t an abstract concept, it’s about practical change. “We want to make as much noise as possible and bring our audience with us along the way.” Often, it’s the smallest adjustments that make the biggest difference. The people who need to hear those conversations aren’t just fans. They are promoters, venues, and the wider industry that shapes live music experiences.

For now, though, the immediate focus is on March 27th, when What If Better Never Comes? will finally step out of that strange pre-release limbo and into the world. When that moment arrives, MALLAVORA hope the album offers something meaningful to the listeners who already find themselves reflected in the band’s music. “We are excited to translate the album to live audiences as well.”

Whether that takes the form of validation, catharsis, or simply a sense of community. The intention is clear: this is music meant to connect. Once the waiting is finally over, once the album is no longer something hidden away but something shared, there’s another kind of excitement waiting on the other side. For MALLAVORA, What If Better Never Comes? feels less like a first step and more like a statement of intent. It’s the beginning of a conversation that’s only just getting started.

What If Better Never Comes? is out now via Church Road Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS129 here.

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