We last covered Matt Malone & the Holy Spirit in their utterly cathartic and immensely enjoyable album ‘For The Term Of His Natural Life’ back in 2023, and we are inordinately honoured to premiere the video for his new track ‘Jealousy’. It’s the second of a trio of releases that began with last year’s Halloween ‘Wolfman’ release, and it’s a perfect opportunity to highlight and revisit this release.
‘Jealousy’ has all the hallmarks of Malone’s inimitable style: incredibly mellifluous vocals, so deep and rich you could bake a cake from it. The track is bluesy, sensuous cool breeze, starting with just a simple guitar strum and Malone’s vocals soaked in whiskey, wine and deep regret. When the instruments enter, the music becomes foreboding and haunting like a dark bank of clouds looming on the horizon, crackling with unreleased energy and light. There are certain elements of ‘Tupelo’ era Nick Cave, with a dusting of religious imagery and a whole bucketful of attitude and pain.
The repetition in the lyrics becomes hypnotic and immersive, delivered with a seething intensity:
You’re spreading your pale white thighs
Your tongue is a vessel of lies
I’ll just have to steal your foolish pride
I got jealousy on my mind
I got jealousy on my mind
I know your little love is so unkind
The track is a revamped version of a song Malone released on his debut record S .I. X (2016). He says of the song:
Jealousy is a song I wrote way back in my early 20’s (and) ended up recording / releasing on my debut LP S .I. X (2016). We started performing it again over the past 12 months + it felt cool to re-record it closer to
the spirit of where the song has evolved to now. I’ve always loved artists like John Lee Hooker, Wille
Dixon or Johnny Cash who would record songs several times throughout their career and give a completely different perspective to the lyrics or performance – I leant more into my love of Elvis / Danzig
vocally on this one I reckon. James brings his signature swing / heaviness to the kit which adds weight /
drama to the choruses. Lyrically, the song tracks the interior dialogue of a narrator possessed by one of
the most destructive human emotions – Jealousy. Is it a lived out homicide blues or something that purely
exists in the narrator’s mind – that’s up to the audience to decide! It’s certainly a song that’s struck a chord with many audience members, who’ve often stated it’s one of their faves of our live set…
The accompanying video is suitably dark and brooding and follows a theme set by ‘Wolfman’, utilising old atmospheric movies this one featuring Orson Welles’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of jealousy and betrayal Othello (1951). Malone explains:
I love cinema and to incorporate my music with scenes from two of my favourite movies seemed like a
no-brainer. I adore that early period of Universal horror movies – The Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein,
The Invisible Man, etc, they are parts of the mythology of modern culture, tapping into our darkest
instincts and desires. I think that’s part of the beauty of horror, it reveals parts of ourselves that we’d
prefer to remain hidden or repressed. I think Shakespeare kinda set the benchmark for psychological
drama way back when and Welles’s interpretation of Othello is the definitive cinematic take in my view!
The deep dark shadows, the slow moving camera, the bulk / imposing figure of Welles himself and the
radiant beauty of Suzanne Cloutier as Dedemona, really lean into the primal story I’m telling in the
song…
It’s haunting and ethereal stuff – matching the southern gothic feel of the band’s delivery:
Rather fittingly, the single is to be released on Valentines Day, 14 February 2026 and will be available via all the usual download and streaming sites. It was recorded with drummer James W. du Plessis, and produced by Loki Lockwood (Drones, Spencer P. Jones, Spooky Records).
This release follows Matt Malone & the Holy Spirits’ earlier single, ‘Wolfman’, a wintry blast of cool, released on Halloween last year. It’s a rocking, rockabilly yelp of insouciant blues, laden with attitude and excess and gilded with horror and drama:
You can catch Matt Malone & the Holy Spirits haunting venues in Melbourne and Sydney over the coming months – see details below. For music historians, these include support from Nick Potts from iconic The Moffs, a veritable paisley-clad institution from the eighties. The release’s art work features Edvard Munch’s Jealousy I (1896) and was designed by Malone.
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits – Jealousy Launch + The Devil’s Meridian (The Stabs, Paul Kidney Experience) @ The Tote – Free Entry / 3PM, Saturday 14-02-26 (Valentine’s Day).
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits – St. Kilda Blues Fest @ The Espy – Free Entry / 2PM, Sunday 01-03-26.
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits + Michael Plater + House Of Light @ Cafe Gummo – $15 / 8PM, Saturday 07-03-26.
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits (Acoustic Duo) Feat. Nick Potts (The Moffs) @ Palomino Lounge, Enmore – Free Entry / 5PM, Thursday 19-03-26.
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits (Acoustic Duo) Feat. Nick Potts (The Moffs) + Michael Plater @ Butcher’s Brew Bar, Dulwich Hill – 7PM, Friday 20-03-26.
Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits (Acoustic Duo) Feat. Nick Potts (The Moffs) + bleedingintoradio (Died Pretty, Fabels) + Michael Plater @ The Moshpit, Newtown – 4PM, Sunday 22-03-26.
