Mallsoft Tranquility: Revisiting Lost Mall Environments

Malls from the 80s and 90s were places of wonder. Tile floors, palm plants, fountains filled with coins, rows of stores, and low-quality hit music playing in the background made up a comforting commercial paradise that most consumers could spend hours wandering.

At the mall, people could come to blow their wallets on fast fashion or spend a dollar on a cup of coffee. Families, friends, or even lone mall-goers could sit in the food court, search for deals, or relax by the mall fountains and artificial shrubbery.

The mall was a commercial paradise for everyone.

In today's world, malls have a hard time fitting in. Online consumer platforms and e-commerce save the need to travel, park the car, and search for goods. In a fast-moving world, the slower pace mall visit is unwelcome and unwanted by many.

Why meet your friends at the mall to visit and shop, when you can see them through your phone screen? Why search for a new dress, when online AI recommends the best possible option for you?

Although the mall may someday be lost forever, the environments and feelings of being in a mall may never disappear, thanks to several musical creators.

Similar to a rural resident moving to an urban city, and listening to nature soundtracks to find calmness, soundtracks of mall ambiance have proven useful for those who wish to revisit commercial landscapes from the past.

The form of music I reference is Mallsoft music. Mallsoft is a sub-genre of the genre called Vaporwave and specializes in re-creating mall environments from previous decades like the 90s.

Artists such as 猫 シ Corp. have made tracks and even full albums for listeners to get lost in soundscapes that when you close your eyes, mimic the malls from long ago.

The album above is called Palm Mall by 猫 シ Corp. The entire album is one stretch of mall ambiance. Sounds include the echoed voices from down a tile hallway, slow elevator music, and commercial announcements. Most of the tracks have a large amount of reverb and a slow tempo.

The description may sound odd, but the entire Palm Mall album (like most Mallsoft music) is very calming.

I would recommend listening to Mallsoft while doing repetitive work such as chores and housework. It can also be a great choice while relaxing in a comfortable chair with a coffee or tea around some house plants. Lastly, it is wonderful for anyone who wishes to take an intentional nostalgic trip to the past.

An experiment I did with Mallsoft music involved listening to it in a new-age mall. One hour before closing time, when the mall was empty, I walked around with headphones listening to Mallsoft tracks. The sounds complemented the environment better than the top 10 hits they were playing out loud. The music plus the smell of food court vendors (which has not changed since the 90s) also brought me back to the time of a classic 90s mall.

One experiment I wish to complete in the future is to have Mallsoft music play through the speaker system of a modern-day mall. I wonder how the visitors and consumers would react? Would they even notice?

The existence of Mallsoft music leads to a larger conversation of environment simulation. Perhaps someday, one could return to a mall in virtual reality. Maybe it would be possible for businesses to have virtual stores that sell real products, and you could flip a crypto-currency coin into a fountain to make a wish.

Until those exist, I would recommend Mallsoft as a source of enjoyable, nostalgic, and (hopefully) relaxing environmental ambiance.