Post Malone returns today with AUSTIN, his fifth studio album and the follow-up to 2022’s Twelve Carat Toothache. Post has been teasing the LP for some time now, dropping a handful of singles, including “Mourning,” “Chemical,” and “Overdrive.”
Despite working with his usual collaborators Louis Bell and watt for most of the project, Malone considers AUSTIN, which draws on everything from rock to synth-pop, a new direction for his music. For starters, he was listening to a lot of Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie Wonder for inspiration, and this time around, he also played guitar on every track. As a result, his songwriting process totally changed.
“The way that I work it, the music and the melody has never been written at the same time,” Malone explained to Zane Lowe. “It’s usually there’s music there and then the melody comes after. But with [the guitar], just being able to sit there, like I said, reverb cross-legged here over in, I think Studio D… with the cans on and so much reverb…It was a really eye-opening experience for me and how I could write music and how I could make music.”
In the end, Malone told fans on Instagram, the album wound up being one of the “most challenging, rewarding, and exciting” records he’s ever made.
