Described by The Independent as "witty, with a rare ability to communicate quite complicated processes with clarity”, Malone's music has one all-embracing characteristic: postmodernist play.  Abandoning high Modernism, Malone found a more honest, personal expression in freeing the cultural baggage of serious High Art Music without actually throwing away the bags.

For example, the Brighton Festival commission Remote Control directly addresses JS Bach's privileged influence in today’s society as two amplified harpsichords, computer-processed sounds and audience-interactive devices all merge into a fantastical carnival of sound, style and social critique.       Three Ancient Nightclubs, commissioned by Psappha, confronts the traditions of presenting music in concert halls (including a mock robbery of the box office takings), while MoDem for two violins is based on the sound of a computer modem and call-and-response activities of cyberspace, including instant messaging.