Photos: Malloy James Shares New Track 'You There?' From Companion Albums

Harlem-based composer, rapper, and recording artist Malloy James has shared the new track and video for 'You There?.' Following the announcement of his upcoming companion albums Season 1 and Season 2, out October 23, 'You There?' is an exceptional snapshot of Malloy's signature sonic touch and world building imbued in Season 2.

With Malloy's charismatic voice and artful obsession with visceral flashes of small details, these companion projects are as vivid and enveloping as any of Malloy's acclaimed sound installations. Taken in concert, Season 1 and Season 2 serve as dueling meditations on memory, love, heartbreak, and self-realization that valorize the sensational over the literal.

Steeped in jazz, soul, and the romantic mythology of New York, Season 1 sees vignettes of ambition and ego collide with reckless infatuation, playing out over dusty soul samples, swinging percussion, airy synths, and a supple 808 thump — a fitting palette for the first half of this suave but sentimental boom-bap Bildungsroman.

Season 2 steps into a different world: alternative guitars, acoustic textures, distorted synths, live bass, and flashes of N.E.R.D, The Neptunes, Q-Tip, John Mayer, and '90s alternative rock. Here, Malloy creates something brighter, rougher, and more restless, like an old romantic comedy colliding with a road movie — beautiful on the surface, complicated underneath.

Malloy James is a master of his domain; a composer, songwriter, and musician shaping sounds and ideas that deliver memories and experiences. Malloy's music serves as emotional timepieces, soulful diary entries that offer glimpses of sandy beach shores under pink skies, hearts that ache as distance creates separation, and relationships shattered across the floor like broken glass.

Season 1 and Season 2 are out October 23.

About Malloy James

Malloy James is a composer, musician, and sound designer whose work moves fluidly across genres from classical to jazz to neo-soul, embracing a genre-less sensibility that resists fixed categories.

Trained in classical composition and sound engineering, James approaches music with a deep sensitivity to how sound shapes perception, space, and experience. His practice moves seamlessly between concert composition and immersive sound design, crafting intricate sonic environments and detailed soundscapes for live shows, exhibitions, and architectural spaces. Known for his genre-fluid approach, James builds layered sound worlds that draw from diverse musical languages — blending orchestral structure, improvisational textures, and electronic atmospheres into cohesive sonic narratives.

His work includes the creation of layered, atmospheric sound worlds for runway presentations during New York Fashion Week, including sound design contributions for Stance and Balenciaga, as well as bespoke sonic compositions for jewelry houses such as Repossi — where precision, texture, and rhythm are treated with the same care as material and form.

Recent projects range from immersive environments for Lexus International, the National Building Museum, and the Miami Design District, to collaborations with leading architects and designers — including a recent collaboration with architect Suchi Reddy and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Across these works, James composes sound that is both spatial and emotional, shaping how audiences move through and remember environments.

James has participated in a number of prestigious residencies, including the inaugural artist residency at Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium in Finland, the Ragdale Foundation, and serving as the Distinguished Fellow for the 2024 season at the Design Akademie Saaleck in Germany. He also crafts original compositions for brands, television, and film, creating nuanced soundscapes that establish mood and elevate narrative without overpowering it.

Currently, James is developing Atlas, an expansive project mapping sound and music to space, place, and time.

Photo Credit: Jonnelle Monzon