“New England’s wildly eclectic crew of genre rebels” (Texas Hill Country Explore Magazine) are back with their most confident and cohesive album to date. The Mallett Brothers Band’s latest offering, Higher Up in the Hills, demonstrates why Bill Copeland Music News once declared them “like William Faulkner resurrected with an electric guitar in hand.” The album marks a significant evolution in the band’s 15-year journey, striking a perfect balance between their roots and their future.
Recorded at Maine’s Halo Studios with longtime collaborator Jon Wyman, Higher Up in the Hills showcases a band fully comfortable in their skin while still pushing creative boundaries. The lead single, “Nothin’s Working,” builds from a simple premise into a profound meditation on the futility of chasing fulfillment through external means. While on the surface, it presents as a heartbreak song, it delves deeper, examining the hollow pursuit of satisfaction through “alcohol, marijuana, ayahuasca on a mountain top” and other temporary fixes. The song’s universal theme and infectious melody make it an ideal introduction to the album’s broader narrative.
The album’s centerpiece, “Dogs and Horses,” features a legendary special guest – rock pioneer Chuck Leavell, known for his work with The Allman Brothers Band and The Rolling Stones. The collaboration wasn’t a product of music industry networking but rather emerged organically from the band’s appearance on Leavell’s PBS series “America’s Forests.” The track perfectly captures the duality of modern rural life, with Luke Mallett painting vivid pictures of broken-down tractors and mounting gravel piles alongside the perpetual motion of touring life. “It’s literally trying to show the duality of life at this stage of the game,” Luke explains. “It’s written from my point of view, splitting my time between full-time musician and farmer/caretaker of the horse farm that my wife runs.” The addition of Leavell’s masterful piano and organ work, recorded at the historic Capricorn Studios, elevates the track to instant classic status, channeling the spirit of southern rock while maintaining the band’s distinctive New England perspective.
The third single, “Outer Limit,” serves as a rollicking call to adventure. The track name-checks iconic spots from Boulder’s Quixote’s to Memphis’s P&H Cafe, creating a road-worn travelogue that captures the band’s extensive touring history. It’s a feel-good song about breaking out of comfort zones, reconnecting with people, and expanding perspectives – themes that resonate particularly strongly in our post-pandemic world. The track embodies the road-warrior spirit that has seen the band share stages with heavyweights like The Turnpike Troubadours, Blackberry Smoke, and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real while becoming festival favorites at events like FloydFest and The New England Country Music Festival.
The Mallett Brothers’ story began in 2009 in Portland, Maine, with brothers Luke and Will Mallett carrying forward the songwriting tradition of their father, acclaimed folk artist David Mallett. “Our father, David Mallett, has always been and will always be our biggest songwriting influence,” Will reflects. “I think my brother and I are always trying to make words feel how he makes them feel.” The current lineup, completed by Nick Leen (bass), Andrew Martelle (fiddle, mandolin), and Brian Higgins (drums), has evolved into one of the most exciting live acts on the Americana circuit, their sound defying easy categorization.
“We have never been just an alt-country band, a rock band, a jam band, or anything else,” the band emphasizes. “We appreciate the songwriter tradition and try to let the song dictate what style or genre the finished product is going to fit into.” This approach is evident throughout Higher Up in the Hills, where each track finds its own natural home in the spectrum between rock, country, and roots music.
“Some of our records have come out of chaos and uncertainty,” explains Will Mallett, “but somehow this one feels more comfortable and confident.” After 15 years together, the band has moved beyond the urgent need to make something work and has grown more assured in their artistic vision. The result is their most fully realized album to date, one that celebrates both where they’re from and where they’re going.
The band will support the release with an extensive tour across the Northeast and beyond, proving that you don’t need to relocate to Nashville or Austin to make authentic American music that resonates far beyond regional boundaries. As they sing in “Dogs and Horses,” “It’s hard livin’ but the livin’ we chose” – and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
PAST PRESS
“Their dense, world-worn roots music is folk-rock at its finest point.” – PopMatters
“They’ve remained steadfast in delivering heartfelt songs with emotional lyricism, vivid imagery, and dynamic musical tones.” – No Depression
“A barn-burner…dagger chops…no dull notes.” – Glide Magazine
“Viva L’Acadie, the new album by The Mallett Brothers Band is a whiskey-soaked old-time Acadian hoedown and everyone’s invited. It’s also a love story to a region and a people – a fading culture caught up in the homogeneity of modern life.” – Folk Radio UK
“Fueled by rootsy America and good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll alongside their love of storytelling and imagery.” –Wide Open Country