Singles Only: Mal Not Bad — “DHF”

When Mal Hauser—who makes music under the name Mal Not Bad—discusses their latest single, “DHF,” they use words like ‘curiosity’ and ‘playfulness.’ It’s the approach they brought to recording the song, but it’s also an apt descriptor for the music they’ve been unveiling.

Mal is gearing up to release their sophomore LP in 2027, and though this isn’t their first record, it feels less amorphous than her 2024 introduction, This Is Your New Life. That sturdiness and solid ground is the foundation of “DHF,” which stands for “Dear Heavenly Father” and comes alongside a music video starring Jon Gries [Napoleon Dynamite, White Lotus].

From this base, Mal cooks up something joyous, buoyant, and delightfully inventive. The guitar line serves as a rhythmic melody accent, while the slippery bassline and impressionistic vocal delivery give the song that playfulness Mal loves to talk about. “You make it easy/ ’Cuz I like you way too much,” they sing, and it’s from this bashful longing that the songwriter pulls the track’s emotional weight.

For the second edition of Singles Club, I chat with Mal about one artist they would want to cover “DHF;” the Napoleon Dynamite star who acts in the song’s video; the genius of Brian Eno; and the brilliance of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Check that out below the paywall, and also find the official Singles Club playlist, which will update every week.