When <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/abu-dhabi-gp-concerts-post-malone-brings-his-southern-charm-to-uae-1.794914" target="_blank">Post Malone</a> revealed he was working on his fourth album in 2021, he reportedly wanted the new tunes to “lift up people". However, it seems the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lack of touring opportunities sent him down a darker, introspective path. The new <i>Twelve Carat Toothache</i>, which was released on Friday,<i> </i>is the US pop star's most personal album yet and is full of the ruminations that come from being cooped up indoors — even if it’s a $3 million mansion in Utah. That being said, Malone hasn’t lost his knack for genre-bending tunes, with his dynamic vocals seamlessly shifting between croons and melodic raps to a rock snarl. Such transitions keep the album engrossing and cements Malone’s standing as one of the great artists of his era. Here are three things know about <i>Twelve Carat Toothache.</i> <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/billboard-music-awards-2020-winners-post-malone-sweeps-up-and-john-legend-dedicates-song-to-chrissy-teigen-1.1093872" target="_blank">Malone </a>follows a long line of musicians bemoaning the destructive and isolating nature of fame. In that sense, the subjects explored in <i>Twelve Carat Toothache</i> is a neat accompaniment to 2019's <i>Hollywood’s Bleeding.</i> Where those songs marvelled at the excess of celebrity, Malone is more circumspect in the follow-up. "I'm a damn fool," he laments in the album's opener <i>Reputation</i>, a lush and cinematic piano ballad about past mistakes. The shoe-gazing is deeper in <i>Insane</i>, where Malone owns up to his poor and misogynistic behaviour with women ("Don't you believe me? / You can ask her," he sings). That self-loathing attitude, however, is tempered with the kind of winning trap hip-hop beats that made <i>Wow</i> a club staple. Dark lyricism and bouncy production is also found in <i>I Cannot Be (A Sadder Song)</i>, which finds Malone arguing with an ex-partner about their toxic relationship: "I know that I ain't perfect, but you so mean." In <i>Twelve Carat Toothache,</i> Malone doubles down on his musical choices. A lot of this is down to collaborating with long-time producer Louis Bell, who co-wrote all 14 tracks. The sounds are <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/living-the-dream-a-hushed-revolution-is-taking-over-pop-1.917201" target="_blank">lush, expansive and ambient</a>. The record sidesteps most of the abrupt beat and tempo changes currently popular in mainstream hip-hop, instead the songs have been created to wash over listeners. When it works, such as in future hits <i>Wrapped Around Your Finger</i> and <i>When I Am Alone</i> — the latter of which Malone's tenor eerily resembles The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers — the album is sublime. The commitment to such an approach results in some filler tracks such as the plodding <i>Euthanasia</i> and <i>Wasting Angels; </i>which is an unfortunate waste of a collaboration with Malone’s heir apparent <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/05/16/billboard-music-awards-2002-winners-list-olivia-rodrigo-drake-and-bts-win-big/" target="_blank">The Kid Laroi</a>. By keeping the tracks sonically uniform and at a brisk 43 minutes, <i>Twelve Carat Toothache </i>is perfect for streaming and it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Buoyed by the success of <i>Hollywood's Bleedin</i>g, Malone ended 2019 as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/post-malone-bts-billie-eilish-and-amr-diab-what-the-arab-world-is-listening-to-on-spotify-1.946713" target="_blank">Spotify's most streamed artist</a> with 6.5 billion streams. Judging by the follow-up, Malone is once again in the running to finish this year on top.