#Twelve Carat Toothache meanings

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Post Malone - Austin Let's be frank -- there's not much to say about Post Malone's new album, Austin (named for, well, his birth name). That's not to say this album is bad, or that there isn't anything to say at all, but at its core, Austin is a very straightforward pop record. What's interesting, however, is watching and listening to Post Malone's progression throughout his career. He started off as a "rapper" in the mid-2010s with 2016 debut Stoney, and really continued that trend with 2018's Beerbongs & Bentleys, but by 2019's Hollywood's Bleeding, he incorporated more alternative and rock sounds to his overall sound. Twelve Carat Toothache from last year really amplified that, being more of a diverse-sounding album, ultimately being a huge mess and not very interesting, but that's neither here nor there. Post Malone has always been obvious for his love of rock and metal music, but he didn't incorporate those influences into his sound, at least until now, so it's interesting to hear some of that. This isn't a rock album, by any means, but there is a lot of acoustic guitar that's featured on Austin, for better or worse. I've got mixed feelings on Austin, and that's really where my thoughts lie, because this album is 52 minutes with seventeen songs, and it does not need to be that long. This album has way more filler than it has any right to have, and I noticed listening through it again at the time of writing this that the first half of the album is quite strong, ultimately featuring some of his best hooks, but the second half is generic, middling, and uninteresting, minus a few highlights. If you like the lead singles, such as "Chemical" and "Mourning," you'll like a majority of this record, which is breezy and summery 80s-influenced pop with folk-pop undertones, but it's more so a case of when it works, it really works, and when it doesn't, it's really boring and uninspired. If this album were around 11 or 12 songs, and only about 35 to 40 minutes, this would be a fantastic record. Nothing special, per se, but a fun record, nonetheless. As it stands, though, Austin is way too bloated and full of a lot of filler. I wish I liked this more as a whole than I did, and the songs that are good are truly good, but Post Malone needs to learn about editing and scaling back. This album features the problem of having too many songs, let alone not enough to justify its length. I don't usually like really long albums and it's for this reason. You almost have to edit the album, per se, to make your own tracklisting of your favorite songs. That's what I did, and the album is only 36 minutes, which makes for a much shorter and better listen, because you cut through the fat and get to the best parts of it. When the album is on fire, it's truly good. The hooks are very enjoyable, the melodies are sticky, and Post Malone's voice sounds fantastic, but a lot of it is very boring, generic, and uninteresting, because it all sounds lesser versions of stuff already on the record. It's a very different sounding album for him, however, and I have to give him credit for that. Fans might be split on this one, especially if you prefer his first two albums, but if you want a more relaxed and blatantly pop-influenced Post Malone, you'll have a good time with this, just sift through the filler and focus on the best songs.