Comprised of Daniel Stoyanov (vocals) and Michael Vajna (producer, pianist), the Leipzig, Germany-based duo of MALKY have a backstory that feels profoundly familiar to me – Daniel Stoyanov and his parents emigrated with his parents from Bulgaria to Germany when Stoyanov was a child; while Vajna is of Hungarian descent. And in some way, their sound which possesses elements of old school R&B, electronica and dream pop also manages to possess an ancient longing for home at it’s very core. 

“Diamonds,” the sparsely arranged EP title track off the German duo’s soon-to-be released Diamonds EP is comprised of Stoyanov’s effortlessly soulful vocals paired with piano, bass, guitar and a string arrangement that give the song an urgent, swooning Romantic (and romantic) longing. Sonically, the song bears a bit of a resemblance both sonically and thematically to Nick Hakim’s impressive Where Will We Go Parts 1 and 2 – at the heart of “Diamonds” is an aching sense of regret; the sort that comes to painfully lonely men who are drinking alone, at 3am and 4am and are haunted by the mistakes of their lives.