Post Malone - Austin - The Singles, Reviewed
Post Malone - Austin - The Singles, Reviewed
Post Malone is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in modern popular music. After bursting onto the rap scene with his 2016 ‘White Iverson’ single, and later his 2017 album ‘Stoney’, he quickly gained an audience with his unique mix of styles, combining elements of pop-rap with flourishes of country guitar, alongside heartbroken and braggadocious lyrics, but still with an ear and indeed voice for an irresistible pop hook. He went onto develop this further with what many, including myself, may consider to be his best album: ‘beerbongs and bentleys’ in 2018. It wasn’t a perfect record by any means, but showed his pre-established skills amplified to very high levels indeed, with a fair few hit singles along with it. Following that though, while I enjoyed a few tracks from 2019’s ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’, there were also a fair few that just didn’t interest me, a problem that worsened with ‘12 Carat Toothache’ two years later. Now though, it appears Post is returning to his singer-songwriter roots on his new album, ‘Austin’, set for release on July 28th, and every track on which purportedly features guitar played by him. So, let’s have a look at the singles to see what’s in store.
Chemical
This is, for all intents and purposes, a pretty good Posty single. Starting out with these subtly forlorn, plucked guitar lines and deep bass, the instrumental is quickly joined by a lively, fast-paced rimshot beat, and shots of atmospheric electric guitar and subtle synths, all of which are given more presence in the earworm, singalong chorus. The bright, sparkly pianos in the bridge are quite nice too. Some might argue that the very airy, atmospheric, catchy sound of this track wouldn’t sound out of place over Hollister shop speakers, and while I can’t disagree entirely, I still like it. I do have to give credit to Post though, he seems to have a knack to take a track that on the face of it sounds quite forlorn and depressing, but engineer a very catchy song out the other end, as he constantly throughout this track offers insanely catchy yet still palpably moody earworms augmented by his trademark heavy vibrato. This is serious late night festival crowd sing-along fodder. That being said though, his lyrics discussing his troubles with substance abuse do feel pretty surface level, portraying the drugs he uses similar to that of a tumultuous relationship. It’s definitely a few steps from being truly soul-bearing. Still though, he’s managed to craft yet another very catchy piece of guitar based pop, not unlike hit single ‘Circles’. Sure it’s not the deepest thing ever, but it’s pretty enjoyable.
This is, for all intents and purposes, a pretty good Posty single. Starting out with these subtly forlorn, plucked guitar lines and deep bass, the instrumental is quickly joined by a lively, fast-paced rimshot beat, and shots of atmospheric electric guitar and subtle synths, all of which are given more presence in the earworm, singalong chorus. The bright, sparkly pianos in the bridge are quite nice too. Some might argue that the very airy, atmospheric, catchy sound of this track wouldn’t sound out of place over Hollister shop speakers, and while I can’t disagree entirely, I still like it. I do have to give credit to Post though, he seems to have a knack to take a track that on the face of it sounds quite forlorn and depressing, but engineer a very catchy song out the other end, as he constantly throughout this track offers insanely catchy yet still palpably moody earworms augmented by his trademark heavy vibrato. This is serious late night festival crowd sing-along fodder. That being said though, his lyrics discussing his troubles with substance abuse do feel pretty surface level, portraying the drugs he uses similar to that of a tumultuous relationship. It’s definitely a few steps from being truly soul-bearing. Still though, he’s managed to craft yet another very catchy piece of guitar based pop, not unlike hit single ‘Circles’. Sure it’s not the deepest thing ever, but it’s pretty enjoyable.
Mourning
Well the one main thing I can give this track is its melodies. Not only is the chorus, to use the turn of phrase, an absolute corker, but his highly catchy melodic delivery through the verses, particularly the second which I think has some great vocal runs, is also very effective. Additionally I think the generally dreamy vibe the track purveys, not only because of Post’s vocals, but also the glimmering, heavenly shots of guitar and synths in the instrumental, does it quite a few favours. That’s kind of where my praises with this track start and end though, because it also has a number of flaws in my opinion. Firstly, as much as the melodies in the instrumental work nicely, the decision to pair them with a fairly straightforward trap beat and slightly overblown, booming 808 bass feels a bit odd. Secondly, the lyrics on this one don’t seem to be doing much of anything interesting. Post divulges, as he has a fair few times before in his music, how the nature of fame has changed his relationship with his friends amongst others, and his want for a respite from the excess it provides, as he details a wild night of partying and rejection. Again, it’s really nothing new or interesting, and corny lyrics like “the way I flex, you’d think I did pilates” certainly don’t help. It’s a bit ironic how he proclaims at the start of the track that he’s, “got a lot of shit to say, couldn’t fit it in the chorus”, but then doesn’t exactly go on to say a great deal. So melodically, this track has some real positives, but the rest of what’s going on here lets it down a fair bit.
Well the one main thing I can give this track is its melodies. Not only is the chorus, to use the turn of phrase, an absolute corker, but his highly catchy melodic delivery through the verses, particularly the second which I think has some great vocal runs, is also very effective. Additionally I think the generally dreamy vibe the track purveys, not only because of Post’s vocals, but also the glimmering, heavenly shots of guitar and synths in the instrumental, does it quite a few favours. That’s kind of where my praises with this track start and end though, because it also has a number of flaws in my opinion. Firstly, as much as the melodies in the instrumental work nicely, the decision to pair them with a fairly straightforward trap beat and slightly overblown, booming 808 bass feels a bit odd. Secondly, the lyrics on this one don’t seem to be doing much of anything interesting. Post divulges, as he has a fair few times before in his music, how the nature of fame has changed his relationship with his friends amongst others, and his want for a respite from the excess it provides, as he details a wild night of partying and rejection. Again, it’s really nothing new or interesting, and corny lyrics like “the way I flex, you’d think I did pilates” certainly don’t help. It’s a bit ironic how he proclaims at the start of the track that he’s, “got a lot of shit to say, couldn’t fit it in the chorus”, but then doesn’t exactly go on to say a great deal. So melodically, this track has some real positives, but the rest of what’s going on here lets it down a fair bit.
Overdrive
This one is certainly more generally enjoyable than the previous single, mainly because it operates with a not dissimilar sonic palette. Not that they’re clones, but there are obviously some similarities. Along with a pretty decent, if simplistic bassline, a more substantial, punchy, ‘We Will Rock You’ style, kick-snare drum beat is on display this time, added to with bits of tambourine later on, and the combination lightly strummed acoustics and atmospheric electric guitars seems to be paying dividends, as it is pretty nice sounding. There’s also a few melodic bells and whistles in the mix too, whether it be the layers of piano and subtle strings for some added drama, or a pretty quaint, whistled bridge portion. It’s fairly light and breezy, a touch downtrodden perhaps, but pretty airy overall, enjoyably so though. The real emotion comes from Post’s vocals and his lyrics. While he yet again delivers dramatic, anthemic, catchy melodies throughout, there is a palpable sadness and yearning in his voice which is quite compelling. We come to learn through the lyrics that the reason for this is a sense of lethargy Post feels due to having to live his life to the absolute max to distract from a breakup. At first glance, yeah it’s not exactly original, but it does the job, right? Well not exactly. As well as some of the phraseology being pretty basic, the way he talks about his ex-lover feels a bit odd. I know he’s never exactly portrayed himself as a stoic type, often lamenting his failed relationships in his lyrics, but the way he talks about this particular ex, saying that he would quite literally do anything to be with her again, including breaking up with his current girlfriend, come across pretty grovelling and desperate, and it’s a bit weird to be honest. So this track is quite good all things considered, only it comes packaged with a pretty distracting set of lyrics, so I’m not sure if I can say I properly enjoy it.
This one is certainly more generally enjoyable than the previous single, mainly because it operates with a not dissimilar sonic palette. Not that they’re clones, but there are obviously some similarities. Along with a pretty decent, if simplistic bassline, a more substantial, punchy, ‘We Will Rock You’ style, kick-snare drum beat is on display this time, added to with bits of tambourine later on, and the combination lightly strummed acoustics and atmospheric electric guitars seems to be paying dividends, as it is pretty nice sounding. There’s also a few melodic bells and whistles in the mix too, whether it be the layers of piano and subtle strings for some added drama, or a pretty quaint, whistled bridge portion. It’s fairly light and breezy, a touch downtrodden perhaps, but pretty airy overall, enjoyably so though. The real emotion comes from Post’s vocals and his lyrics. While he yet again delivers dramatic, anthemic, catchy melodies throughout, there is a palpable sadness and yearning in his voice which is quite compelling. We come to learn through the lyrics that the reason for this is a sense of lethargy Post feels due to having to live his life to the absolute max to distract from a breakup. At first glance, yeah it’s not exactly original, but it does the job, right? Well not exactly. As well as some of the phraseology being pretty basic, the way he talks about his ex-lover feels a bit odd. I know he’s never exactly portrayed himself as a stoic type, often lamenting his failed relationships in his lyrics, but the way he talks about this particular ex, saying that he would quite literally do anything to be with her again, including breaking up with his current girlfriend, come across pretty grovelling and desperate, and it’s a bit weird to be honest. So this track is quite good all things considered, only it comes packaged with a pretty distracting set of lyrics, so I’m not sure if I can say I properly enjoy it.
So, what does this say about the album on the horizon? Well, although I’ve obviously had a fair few criticisms of these singles, I still think this album has the potential to be his best and most consistent since ‘beerbongs’, if he plays his cards right. Although how he’ll manage to sustain that level of already tentative optimism for 17 tracks worth of runtime, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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