Post Malone — Twelve Carat Toothache — Album Review

Joe Boothby
3 min readJun 9, 2022

Alternative | R&B | Pop

Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music

Post Malone has been somewhat of a musical namesake in recent memory, ever since the LA singer and rap artist broke out with his 2016 debut album Stoney. And while I had known of Post Malone since that album, I only really started to warm to him upon the release of his third album, 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding.

It was through this album that Posty began to build upon a unique moody aesthetic that felt very true to himself as an artist, and also reflected his musical and vocal style very well. With that said, I was beginning to enjoy his music a lot more since then.

But after the release of that album, Post Malone began to go a little quiet in regards to new material.The thought actually crossed my mind, in which I was wondering when he would be dropping something fresh. And as if the musical higher powers that be had heard my thoughts, we now arrive at the release of Post Malone’s fourth studio album, titled Twelve Carat Toothache.

As the album cover would suggest, I got the notion that this album would simply be a continuation of the aforementioned moody and pseudo-gothic atmosphere that was so widespread across Hollywood’s Bleeding. And by the title of the album, I guessed that this record would focus on a narrative surrounding Posty’s bittersweet feelings towards his fame and status. But given that the only real taste of the album I had, prior to the album’s release, was the collaborative track with The Weeknd, titled “One Right Now”, I was going into this project with somewhat of a critical blank canvas.

And now that Twelve Carat Toothache is finally here, I was instantly able to get that sense that the aforementioned narrative focus had been followed through. However, there is also a sense that Post Malone approaches this topic in a slightly unengaging way. After all, this narrative has been done before by countless other artists, and it’s indeed a tricky one to get right.

That isn’t to say, however, that this album comes without its fair share of enjoyable bops. And for the most part, the instrumental and vocal side of things to provide a fair amount of enjoyment when it comes to Twelve Carat Toothache. There are even the tiniest hints of a Kanye West feel in the instrumentals behind some of the tracks. A great example of this would be the track “Euthanasia”.

I wouldn’t rank it quite as highly as the likes of Hollywood’s Bleeding, mainly due to the fact that this record didn’t really engage with me nearly as much, while also being a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to its tracks (the earlier leg was much better than the second). However, I still found it to be a somewhat solid listen with equally solid features, and far from a true blemish on the artists discography.

Favourite Tracks: Cooped Up | Wrapped Around Your Finger | I Like You (A Happier Song)

Least Favourite Tracks: Lemon Tree | Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol

Mercury Records | Republic Records | UMG

Final Score: 57%

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Joe Boothby

My articles mainly revolve around music reviews and analysis. A bit like Anthony Fantano, but just a decade behind.