{"id":2454523,"date":"2026-06-11T12:22:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2454523"},"modified":"2026-06-11T12:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:22:39","slug":"i-traumatised-the-celebrity-traitors-banshee-wails-fashion-shows-and-disabled-rights-mallavora-are-fighting-for-a-healthier-music-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/i-traumatised-the-celebrity-traitors-banshee-wails-fashion-shows-and-disabled-rights-mallavora-are-fighting-for-a-healthier-music-world\/","title":{"rendered":"“I traumatised the Celebrity Traitors.” Banshee wails, fashion shows and disabled rights: Mallavora are fighting for a healthier music world"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stephen Fry trying to replicate my vocals was surreal<\/p>\n

Jessica Douek<\/p>\n

Many musicians dream of hearing their music on national television, and singer Jessica Douek, from up-and-coming alt metallers<\/a> Mallavora, experienced just that\u2026 in a weird way. She provided the vocals for a challenge on reality TV show The Celebrity Traitors, in which contestants had to stick their head in a pond, listen to a \u2018banshee scream\u2019, imitate that noise, and then match it to one emitting from a locket hanging from a tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen Fry trying to replicate my vocals was the most surreal thing I have ever witnessed,\u201d Jess gleefully recalls. \u201cEvery time they opened those little lockets and these horrific wails came out, it was all me. I did it all at home. I was recording these eight-second clips of the most unhinged vocal sounds possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But it very nearly didn\u2019t happen. \u201cThe hilarious thing is, I genuinely thought it was a scam!\u201d Jess admits. \u201cOne of the assistant producers DMed us completely out of the blue. I was like, \u2018Ha ha! Yeah, of course, no worries. Drop us an email\u2019, and then she whacked an NDA in our inbox. They wanted a wide range of the weirdest vocals I could possibly come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The end result was spectacular, with national treasure Celia Imrie attempting to mimic one of the \u2018death wails\u2019 while the other contestants cowered in fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI traumatised them all,\u201d Jess says, beaming with pride. \u201cPut that on my gravestone. This is it, I\u2019m done now, I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\nMallavora – Hopeless [Official Music Video] – YouTube<\/span>
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When they\u2019re not busy terrifying celebs, Bristol-based Mallavora have been opening stages at Download and ArcTanGent festivals, and working on their debut album. Safe to say, it\u2019s been a very busy time.<\/p>\n

The fruits of their labour, What If Better Never Comes?, is a melting pot of influences: Smile encompasses everything from Middle Eastern-inspired vocals to pig squeals, while Waste is all drop-tuning and cathartic rage that manages to be simultaneously incredibly heavy and catchy. Meanwhile, the nine-minute-long title track offers plenty of epic instrumental work for prog fans.<\/p>\n

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The title is a nod to the chronic health conditions that Jess and guitarist Larry Sobieraj live with. It condenses the rage, frustration, guilt and longing about the hand they\u2019ve been dealt into song form, with the vocals veering from clean melodies to brutal screaming at the flip of a coin.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarry\u2019s got Long Covid, and I also have various chronic illnesses \u2013 I\u2019m disabled,\u201d Jess explains. \u201cOur writing process is us using the music to get out what we\u2019re dealing with, really. The ultimate fear for a lot of people who become chronically ill or become suddenly disabled – before you reach that period of acceptance \u2013 is the big thing you\u2019re scared to say out loud: \u2018What if better never comes? What if this is my life? What do I do then?\u2019 That\u2019s where it started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smile is pure fury at the treatment of disabled people<\/p>\n

Jessica Douek<\/p>\n

The record is the definition of catharsis, but the band also tackle subjects including politics and trans rights. Jess describes Smile as \u201cthe angriest thing we\u2019ve ever put out\u201d, its lyrics tackling how society patronises disabled people while also sidelining them, with frustration boiling over in the chorus: \u2018I don\u2019t want your admiration \/ I am not your inspiration.\u2019<\/p>\n


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Despite its heaviness, the song was picked up by a clothing company called Unhidden that specialises in making adaptive clothing for disabled people. They asked Mallavora if they could use it for their show at London Fashion Week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe song and the music video were playing on loop for that entire evening!\u201d Jess recalls. \u201cSmile is pure fury at the treatment of disabled people, and it felt relevant with the political rhetoric around benefits and disabled people being portrayed as lazy scroungers. Hearing our song on a runway of these incredible disabled models felt like it was a massive protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nCelia Imrie \ud83d\ude02 #celiaimrie #claudiawinkleman #celebritytraitors #traitors #alancarr #stephenfry – YouTube<\/span>
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But while Mallavora are outspoken about disabled rights, they also acknowledge that being so active can be overwhelming, whether you have health issues or not. The way Jess sees it, we\u2019ve got a long way to go in terms of accessibility and making music a viable and healthy career for more people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing major artists cancelling tours, being burnt out, becoming really unwell, people who wouldn\u2019t identify as being disabled,\u201d she says. \u201cIf we don\u2019t start genuinely caring about the wellbeing of the people in the industry \u2013 not just artists, but the crew behind the scenes, everyone in the industry, where are we headed?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going anywhere good at the moment. Things do need to change, because not only are we excluding disabled people from this world, but it\u2019s making everyone sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges Mallavora have faced, failure was never an option.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs artists, we are trying to forge a way for ourselves that works in the industry,\u201d Jess says. \u201cThere is still an expectation for artists to fit a certain mould and be able to do certain things. We\u2019re not willing to give up, we\u2019re not willing to feel that this life isn\u2019t for us.<\/p>\n

“We are determined to do this as disabled people, as neurodivergent people, and if that means we\u2019ve got to carve a path out that maybe we\u2019ve not seen other people do before, we\u2019ll do it. We\u2019re just not willing to accept the concept that disabled people or chronically ill people can\u2019t do this music thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What If Better Never Comes? is out now via Church Road<\/strong><\/p>\n