MALINOWSKI - Under A Landslide of Stars
- Samuel Stevens
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
After more than a decade away from a solo full-length, Jay Malinowski returns under his MALINOWSKI moniker with Under A Landslide of Stars, a record that feels both deeply intimate and philosophically vast. Set for release on April 3, 2026, via Dine Alone Records, the album wrestles with love in its purest and most corrupted forms—an ambitious thematic tightrope that Malinowski walks with striking clarity.
Best known for his work in Bedouin Soundclash, Malinowski has always had a gift for blending genres and ideas, but here, he strips things back emotionally while expanding them sonically. The result is a record that feels almost spiritual in scope, moving between hushed reflection and sweeping, choir-backed crescendos.
The album opens with “Rain-Maker,” immediately setting a contemplative tone, its sparse instrumentation giving way to layered textures that mirror the record’s central tension: the push-and-pull between grounded love and dangerous devotion. From there, “Shipwrecks (featuring Aimee Interrupter)” and “Son of a Gun” build on that foundation, weaving narrative songwriting with subtle sonic experimentation.
“Die For Love,” meanwhile, is perhaps the album’s most conceptually sharp offering. Its exploration of love weaponized—where devotion becomes justification for violence—is unsettling in the best way. The track doesn’t just pose questions; it forces listeners to sit in the discomfort of them. Malinowski’s commentary on the subject seeps into every note, making it one of the album’s most memorable and thought-provoking cuts.
The previously released single “Holy Guns” remains one of the album’s most defining moments. The song acts as its “heartbeat,” the track captures a mind unravelling at the intersection of faith and fanaticism. There’s a haunting immediacy to lines that flirt with transcendence and destruction, and Malinowski’s delivery sells every ounce of that internal conflict.
Musically, Under A Landslide of Stars thrives in its contrasts. Tracks like “Wheels of War” and “Mountain” lean into grand, almost cinematic arrangements, bolstered by the album’s ambitious use of choirs—from New Orleans gospel ensembles to a massive one-hundred-fifty person community choir recorded in a church in British Columbia. These moments feel enormous and communal, as if Malinowski is zooming out to examine humanity as a whole.
In contrast, songs like “Half-Moon Bay” and “Deeper Than Blue” bring things back to earth, centring on personal love—specifically the quiet, grounding affection he writes about for his wife and son. This pair of tracks provides the emotional anchor of the entire record, reminding listeners what real, uncorrupted love looks like amid the chaos.
The closing title track, “Under A Landslide of Stars,” ties everything together with a sense of fragile resolution. It doesn’t offer easy answers, but it does suggest a return to something sacred in the everyday—a theme that lingers long after the final note fades.
What makes this album so compelling is its refusal to collapse under the weight of its own ideas. Where it could have become overly conceptual or preachy, Malinowski keeps it wholly human. His songwriting remains vivid and accessible, even as it grapples with heavy philosophical questions.
Ultimately, Under A Landslide of Stars is a bold and rewarding return—one that showcases Malinowski not just as a songwriter, but as a storyteller unafraid to confront the contradictions of love in a fractured world. It’s a record that asks difficult questions, offers fleeting glimpses of redemption, and trusts the listener enough to sit somewhere in between.
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