I first heard Mallrat a little over a year ago, after her debut single “Suicide Blonde” was premiered on Pigeons & Planes. Since then I’ve been eagerly awaiting her debut project, an EP titled Uninvited that was released in North America on August 12th.

Mallrat is the rap name of Grace Shaw, a 17-year-old singer/rapper from Brisbane, Australia who describes herself as the “Hannah Montana of the rap game”. Her music is infectiously catchy, a blend of dream pop and cloud rap that delves into the anxieties of being a teenager.

The Uninvited EP is the musical equivalent of watching a John Hughes movie: all of the fears and hopes of youthfulness are reflected across the project’s six tracks. As a highschool student herself, Shaw offers an informed, firsthand look at the terrifying nature of teenage society that many only come to realize in hindsight. Introversion and paranoia (“Inside Voices”), fake friends (“Uninvited”), and the cult-like obsession with trends (“Sunglasses”) are all dissected in Mallrat’s wise-for-her-age, laid-back approach to rap. “For Real” is an elegantly simplistic love song, and “Suicide Blonde” gets heavy with its depiction of the addiction and depression that accompanies a fall from stardom.

Mallrat’s music videos have been excellent accompaniments to the album, from the unicorn-laden “Inside Voices” to the poignant found-footage approaches taken for “Suicide Blonde” and “Uninvited”; “Uninvited”, in particular, embodies the song’s theme of loneliness in a crowd by interspersing footage of Shamu (the first killer whale ever to be held in captivity) with footage of the Kardashians leaving clubs amid a throng of paparazzi.

Production comes via Melbourne’s Tigerilla and Casper Zazz, as well as Rey Reel (whose track record includes work with Beyoncé, Drake, and Nicki Minaj) on “Tokyo Drift”. Mallrat’s influences range from fellow Australian rapper Allday (whose production team was involved on Uninvited) to Grimes, Skrillex, and Courtney Barnett.

Uninvited is available for free streaming on Soundcloud, and for purchase on iTunes.