MUTT



















Album ∙ R&B/Soul ∙ 2024


Leon Thomas wears seemingly every hat there is: He sings, he writes songs, he acts, and he produces. Despite being spread thin in a million different directions, he manages to excel in all these fields. After years of dedicating his talent to acting and writing songs for other artists, he emerged in 2023 with his solo debut, Electric Dusk, via Ty Dolla $ign’s EZMNY imprint. A year later, he released its follow-up, MUTT, a convincing sign that Thomas is all in on this latest endeavor.

MUTT finds Thomas showcasing his vocal prowess and lyrical talent alike, telling stories of love lost and betrayal, staggering his way through empty relationships as he looks for his soulmate. On “SAFE PLACE,” he sings over screeching guitars and the persistent beat of a ride cymbal bell, admitting, “I see the glass half empty.” On “FAR FETCHED,” which features his label boss, Thomas takes issue with a love interest who is more interested in handouts than a deep relationship. “Paid for my mistakes in Benzes and diamonds,” he fumes, before adding, “250 fronted like you was my artist.” Leon Thomas has conquered everything he’s set his mind to, and yet, on MUTT, love eludes him.

Listen on Apple Music

Popular posts from this blog

143

Image
143 Album ∙ Pop ∙ 2024 Katy Perry When she skyrocketed to stardom at the tail end of the 2000s, Katy Perry was a girl-next-door gone wild: dancing on tables, kissing cherry-Chapstick-ed strangers, and shooting whipped cream out of her sparkly bustier. Her trademark hits represented pop as pure escapism—fun and frivolous, with production from the era’s biggest hitmakers (Max Martin, Stargate, Dr. Luke). Sixteen years after her breakthrough with 2008’s “I Kissed a Girl,” the era from which Perry emerged has cycled back into fashion as a nostalgic trend. But on her sixth album (not including her contemporary Christian record as Katy Hudson), named for her angel number—and for how people typed “I love you” back in the pager era—the 39-year-old singer is focused on the present. “When I was going through [2008 debut album]   One of the Boys , it was like, ‘Oh my god, hold on to this ride!’” Perry tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, tracing the arc of her career as it pertains to her emotional lif
Open »

Ensoulment

Image
Ensoulment Album ∙ Alternative ∙ 2024 The The It’s 1983. Amid a characteristic London downpour, “a broken soul,” feeling the sting of unrequited love, “stares from a pair of watering eyes” up to the window of the object of his infatuation. “Uncertain emotions force an uncertain smile,” sings Matt Johnson, completing the verse to one of The The’s most well-known songs from their official debut album, the era-defining  Soul Mining . More than 40 years later, on “I Want to Wake Up With You,” that same character reenters the frame, in a scene not unlike the one before: “Standing on the corner, in the rain, looking up at your window—again,” croons Johnson in his now signature baritone. “A long time ago, another life, and though not a boy, barely a man. 'Just bring whatever you hope to find,' so I brought my soul and a bellyful of wine.” It might be an alternate ending to an old story. It might be Johnson finding himself in a familiar place under different circumstances. But whatever
Open »