Put up Malone‘s fifth studio album, ‘Austin’ begins with a tragic love tune. An acoustic guitar magnifies Malone’s vibrating vocals as he admits, “I don’t perceive why you want me a lot / Trigger I don’t like myself” simply earlier than the strings are available, introducing the reside instrumentation that pervades your complete album. It’s a haunting first glimpse at Austin Richard Put up’s namesake assortment, hinting at a brand new degree of lyrical honesty and musicality for the singer-songwriter.

Within the lead-up to ‘Austin’, Malone determined to decelerate. In a latest interview he defined that changing into a father and transferring from the raucous Los Angeles to extra subdued Salt Lake Metropolis shifted his perspective from specializing in the vacation spot to “[experiencing] the journey to its fullest”. That call takes on auditory prominence within the album, whether or not it’s Malone’s option to play guitar on each tune or the decelerating tempo of tracks compared to his earlier releases.

There’s additionally a stripped-back component to ‘Austin’, whether or not it’s pulling again his moniker and stamping his beginning identify throughout the compilation or deciding to launch a feature-less album for the very first time. Although his notable genre-defying expertise are nonetheless right here in ‘Austin’, Posty’s clearly veering off in new inventive instructions, which is a daring option to make contemplating his method up to now has pushed him to world acclaim.

Since he debuted with 2016’s ‘Stoney’, Malone has been gigantic. That album’s single, ‘Congratulations’, that includes Quavo set the report for many weeks on the US Billboard High R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and launched a hitmaking profession for the Texas artist. In 2018 he dropped ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’ which debuted at Quantity One on the Billboard 200, and housed hit singles ‘Rockstar’ that includes 21 Savage and ‘Psycho’ that includes Ty Greenback $ign. His third providing, 2019’s ‘Hollywood Bleeding’ adopted an analogous trajectory, merging pop, hip-hop and R&B into Malone’s personal makeshift style, this time with the hypnotic ‘Sunflower’, that includes Swae Lee which broke data for going platinum 17 occasions, in addition to the echoing ‘Circles’ which shortly hit No. 1 on the Scorching 100 charts.

In June of final yr, he launched  ‘Twelve Carate Toothache’ scattered with visitor spots from the likes of Doja Cat, his favorite band Fleet Foxes, The Weeknd and extra. If ‘Twelve Carate Toothache’ was a “sobering comedown” as NME wrote, then ‘Austin’ is a considerate look again in any respect the vices and consuming that led to that comedown and a fast hopeful look at what might occur subsequent. The subject material could also be reducing at occasions – like when Malone recollects being so tousled be’s speaking to no person, throwing up on a tile ground and never desirous to sober up in ‘Mourning’ – however as a substitute of every monitor taking part in out painfully, the album’s intricate manufacturing acts like a spoonful of sugar to assist the bitterness go down.

In ‘One thing Actual’ Malone goes full gospel, as he confesses opulent sins and worships on the altar of free rounds of drinks in VIP and lighting a cigarette “simply so I can breath” all on the hunt for one thing he can really feel. A choir backs his dissolution and the heart-wrenching line “I’d commerce my life simply to be at peace” pours out proper earlier than the shut. The pulsating ‘Chemical’ is among the album’s finest testaments to dressing up a tragic tune as a cheerful one. The monitor options brilliant keys on the chorus and when Malone sings about listening to “‘Seven Nation Military’ combating on the bar with you” he makes it sound romantic, by some means.

‘Overdrive’ strings collectively a ballad from the attitude of a protagonist craving to be “Cool to you”, the singer leaning into heartbreaking vocal tones; the easy whistling and pristine manufacturing making direct lyrics like “I’d take away my tattoos if that’s cool to you” sound profound. ‘Inexperienced Thumb’ highlights Malone in all of his pop-prowess, his voice clear like a bell and his lyrical treatise on love (or internal progress… or flowers… or demise) evokes a solemn response, with sharp metaphors layered over timeless and stirring orchestration.

Malone co-produced ‘Austin’ with behemoth creators Andrew Watt and Louis Bell on many of the album, sans two tracks (‘Signal Me Up’ and ‘Sufficient Is Sufficient’) the place he collaborates with hit Swedish songwriters Max Martin and Rami Yacoub to create what he’s known as “a number of the funnest most difficult and rewarding music”. The shift from entice beats and hip-hop supply to purer pop suites Malone nicely, proving that slowing down generally is a inventive benefit, particularly once you’re on course.

Particulars

• Launch date: July 28, 2023
• File label: Mercury Data/Republic Data