If you think you know Post Malone, get ready for an introduction. With every album he releases, we feel like we get closer and closer to understanding who Austin Post is beyond the music, and that’s truer than ever with his fifth album, AUSTIN. With 17 stunning tracks, Post explores all different facets of his life and past now that he’s adjusting to life with his fiancé and as a father. It’s raw and reflective while also giving us the catchy hooks and clever lyrics we all know and love from his music.
AUSTIN is a thrilling journey of self-discovery and growth, seeing Post process his fears, vices, and missteps and stepping into his own more than ever before. And if you ‘Don’t Understand’ the storyline, don’t worry, because we’ll be breaking it down for you!
The album starts off with the delicate ‘Don’t Understand,’ a bittersweet love song about how Post isn’t sure how his partner loves him so much when he can’t even truly like himself. It seems to take place in the present day, where Post is engaged and has a baby before the project dives into why he doesn’t love himself yet. The rest of the album feels like an odyssey through the different eras of his career so far, which is especially poignant with how much fame-related reflection he did on his last record, Twelve Carat Toothache. More than ever before, AUSTIN is showing us who Post is behind the lights and glamour of fame.
Andrew [Watt] came in with the riff. It was that little riff and then he went to something else, but I was just like, “What if we just let that ring out there?” Just let it go so you can really fill in that space almost, like… stop, lyric. That was a cool song. I think that was the first one that we did.
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
Sonically, ‘Something Real’ very much feels like a continuation of Twelve Carat Toothache’s ‘Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol,’ a choir-backed song that links with a lot of the AUSTIN album – trust us, you’ll be hearing about it later in our analysis. In fact, ‘Something Real’ connects to a lot of Twelve Carat Toothache songs, and the fact that TCT touches on a lot of the ups and downs of fame convinces us that the similarities aren’t coincidental at all. “Light a cigarette just so I can breathe” mirrors the “take my own life just to save yours, drink it all down just to throw it up” lyrics on ‘Reputation.’ “How the f*ck am I still alive?” calls back to ‘Waiting For A Miracle,’ and the lyric “I would trade it all just to be at peace” line reminds us of how Post dismisses his luxurious lifestyle on ‘Insane.’
We think ‘Something Real’ looks back at the start of Post’s career when he had a more carefree view of fame and was more easily impressed by what his success unlocked. “I can’t believe everybody gets to drink for free,” he beams just a few songs before reflecting on how “everybody’s free when the dinner is” on ‘Mourning,’ offering a more jaded perspective that only comes with more time and experience in the spotlight. Now, in hindsight, he’s realized that the things he valued so much when he was younger aren’t necessarily as “real” or special as he thought they were.
On the first listen, the album’s lead single, ‘Chemical,’ sounds like it’s about a semi-toxic relationship that just keeps going in ‘Circles.’ But now that we have the full context of the album, we don’t think it’s what it seems! How we now take it is being about his vices – through that lens, he’s smoking something in the car and metaphorically “fighting at the bar” with alcohol. The last bar fight that took place in his music was on ‘Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol,’ where he seemingly heads to the bar alone only to get in an altercation with other patrons. No girls or relationships involved, so it’s possible that the bar fight lyric may be about the same night.
Post leans into the party life again on ‘Novacandy,’ a celebratory track about what that lifestyle has to offer and how he “would give up [his] tongue for a taste” of it. He also admits to drinking to avoid his problems – “another minute, another problem, another brewski” – and he doesn’t truly address or directly face those problems until later on the album. But there’s still a bit of fear and acknowledgment of potential danger at the end of the song since it closes with the word “overdose” repeating.
‘Mourning’ is the first time on the album that we see past Posty really step back and take a look at where his life is heading. He’s becoming more and more aware of how unhealthy the party lifestyle can become while also contemplating whether he can really trust the people around him. It’s basically a mini existential crisis packed into a summery pop song, much like how the more upbeat, fun parts of fame can overshadow the harder parts or make people outside of the spotlight think it’s easy to be in the public eye. And yes, that contrast is almost definitely intentional!
It feels like a natural follow-up to songs like ‘Chemical’ and ‘Novacandy,’ with Post sobering up and rethinking his habits. He admits that he “paid a little too much for the time of [his] life,” which ties into how he lost teeth in a fight on ‘Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol’ and would’ve been fine giving up his tongue on ‘Novacandy.’
Interestingly, despite being in the middle of songs that seem to be more about Post’s past, we think ‘Sign Me Up’ could be about falling for his fiancé, who we met on ‘Don’t Understand.’ This track is all about the lengths he’ll go to for love, and it seems to reflect on his negative views of himself as well with the lyric: “if you think I have a soul to save, I might have a little faith.” On ‘Don’t Understand,’ he even sang, “I’ll build a church for you,” so the religious connotations go hand-in-hand while describing this faith-inspiring relationship.
Another crucial moment of ‘Sign Me Up’ is the line we consider the climax, “I knew the party was over when she tried to take my alcohol.” This love was so all-encompassing until that moment, and he sounds so taken aback by her taking the alcohol that there was almost a complete shift in tone for a second. Post has talked about cutting back his drinking habits across interviews and his music, so it seems like she was trying to help him rather than hurt him.
It’s very frustrating [that alcohol is a weakness for me]. But now if I do drink and I’m not doing a show or recording… I have a very hard time expressing myself via recording if I’m not a little f*cked up. It’s a good spot now because if I’m not recording or I’m not talking to people or if I’m not doing shows, I really do drink just to have fun. It’s having a beer with my dad or with my bud.
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
With ‘Socialite,’ Post further explores how fame can be isolating and make you feel like a product rather than a person, commenting on how he sometimes feels like more of a trendy socialite than an artist being taken seriously. He talks about feeling out of place, mentioning that people in Los Angeles “tell [him that his] truck is stupid.” It also touches on his alcohol use, with Post noting that he’s “always a drink away from a good day” and even that his “chauffeur drinks Patron, so call a cab for [him],” which we think is an interesting contrast from having a friend drive him home on the angsty ‘Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol.’
And like that tile floor line from ‘Mourning,’ ‘Socialite’ also comments on the lack of true connection that Post experiences in Hollywood – “my new best friend I just met, now it’s f*ck everybody else. You love someone six weekends and never talk to them again.” Yet towards the end of the song, we get one of the most thought-provoking lines on the album: “Call it what you want, it’s such a tragedy, I pulled the shortest straw, another casualty.” While Post may not have found true connection in those social circles, he’s found it with his fans worldwide, and he didn’t have to try to be a ‘Socialite’ or someone he’s not to do so.
Here’s another pre-release single that seems to be a love song until it isn’t! ‘Overdrive’ sees Post admitting what effect fame has had on him, noting, “I live my life so overtired and there’s nowhere I can hide.” And yes, it could definitely be a love song, but we don’t think it’s a love song in a traditional sense. The key lyric, “I’d do anything to be cool to you,” reminds us of how artists often need to reinvent themselves and offer something new with every release to keep fans engaged. You could also take it as him doing anything he can to fit in with his Hollywood peers, even though he feels out of place.
But if it is a love song, it offers a glimpse into Post’s views of love before he met his fiancé. Based on our theory that only a few songs take place in the present, this would be before they started dating, and the relationship in the song wasn’t nearly as important to him. The line “there ain’t no angels in this world” links back to the Twelve Carat Toothache track ‘Wasting Angels,’ which talks about Post’s appreciation for the love and care that his “angel” fiancé gives him.
The driving motif continues on ‘Speedometer,’ where Post gets a little reckless and uses driving as a metaphor for taking things too fast in a relationship. In theory, cars usually symbolize freedom since they allow you to go anywhere, but being in the limelight, Post has eyes on him at all times. And even during his joyride, he ultimately gets pulled over, and his limited feeling of freedom backfires on him. One more little detail that might tie into the alcohol themes on the album: the exaggeration of “pushhh” might be a nod to the Busch beer company’s “Buschhh” slogan. So is it a love song to a person or his vices?
On ‘Enough Is Enough,’ Post really steps back and observes how his drinking habits have affected his life, remembering nights sitting on a Vegas sidewalk and feeling like there were times it would’ve been easier for his loved ones to just leave him there instead of trying to help him. There’s also yet another callback to ‘Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol’ as well, with the lyric “they said I pick fights that I won’t ever win,” tying into the bar fight in the earlier song.
One of the most striking moments of the song is the outro, which goes, “I can’t stand, can’t stand, ‘cause enough is enough.” In a general context, “I can’t stand it” would’ve made sense to talk about Post’s frustration with his situation, but he can’t stand it because he had more than enough to drink. It’s a clever double-meaning that really highlights how distressed he felt at the time and ends the song without a true resolution, mirroring how people can feel stuck in a cycle of their vices.
Writing that song was not about current experiences… It’s super cathartic to be able to tell your story and then reach out to people who maybe have gone, or are going, through it and at least bring joy through music, you know?
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
Hands down, ‘Buyer Beware’ is not only one of the best songs on AUSTIN but also one of the best, most thought-provoking songs Post Malone has ever released. For the Post x Taylor Swift fans out there, you can consider this ‘Dear Reader (Post’s Version)’ – the song is Post’s reflection on his shortcomings in life and some of his lowest views of himself, coming back to healthier habits as he chooses to light incense instead of a cigarette, and tries to find his lost Bible. “Sorry, baby, I don’t have the answers even though I’m a know-it-all… I don’t have the answers, sh*t, and maybe I don’t know nothing at all,” he insists. There’s also a tie to ‘Don’t Understand’ – he sings that “no one knows you better than yourself,” which is an interesting view considering he didn’t see much of his valuable side in the earlier song.
This relentless honesty and vulnerability is what makes Post such a relatable, engaging artist, even if he feels down on himself in the moments he’s sharing with us. But it’s also understandable that being a moving, life-shaping artist like that can come with a lot of pressure, worrying that you aren’t good enough to be a role model or that your music can give people false hope. That’s what we think the line “you’re on your own, oracle, it’s just a f*cking poem” is about, admitting that he feels just as lost as we do and that while we might see his music as something so empowering or helpful, it’s still an artistic release for him that won’t necessarily always have the right answer for us.
‘Buyer Beware’ also brings us back to the present more as Post reflects on how his party habits have affected his family life, singing about his now-fiancé, “I came home through the window sill, but I’m sure that she’ll forgive me.” Moments like that seem to be a big motivation for him to change and become more mindful of his choices.
I’m not running around town and I’m not… There used to be a time, especially at the beginning of our relationship, that I would just disappear and just go for a week. And I was like, “oh man, that’s so shitty. I’m such a turd.” But now I don’t. It’s been surprisingly easy because this is the stuff that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m a homebody. I never want to leave my house. I never want to leave the property, and I just want to play games and watch TV and hang with the family.
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
Another thought-provoking song on AUSTIN is the melancholy ‘Green Thumb,’ which looks at heartbreak through the lens of a garden. Post sings about a girl who had a green thumb after he notices her garden died off, possibly as a metaphor for a relationship falling apart after the caring, nurturing side of someone fades away. While his lover moves on, Post turns to drink and personifies his drink as a woman named Brandy, who he says he’ll marry that night, resigning himself to a life of numbing his feelings with alcohol. He winds up missing his ex until the day he dies, hearing “the nurse say, ‘goodnight, she’s never coming home.’” It’s a gorgeously tragic story, but even with the amount of pain in it, Post was still able to find a different, healthy love and improve his life.
I really like it… I think it’s the only, like, breakup song where you talk to plants. So that’s novel.
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
With the final track, ‘Laugh It Off,’ Post manages to find some semblance of happiness even with all the chaos and darkness around him. Compared to the “I started laughing like it was funny, but it really ain’t funny” line about drinking on ‘Enough Is Enough,’ this closer sees Post taking a more optimistic, grateful approach for the blessings that life has given him. “Haven’t seen the sun in a month, but it’s all sunshine. I forgot how to cry, it feels like pain is a world away,” he muses, contrasting how he described the sun as a disappointment on ‘Mourning.’
The song seems to take us back to the present day, feeling like a companion piece of sorts to ‘Don’t Understand’ that brings the story full circle. Post remembers how someone important in his life, likely his fiancé, said that he “should smile more,” and he took that advice to heart because the very last lines we hear are “if I learned anything at all, smile.” It’s a beautiful reminder that no matter what insecurities, destructive habits, or fears are grazing in our heads, we can still find something to celebrate and smile at.
Making the last record, I was so, so, so… Well, writing it, I was so, so sad. But now I’m so happy and it’s definitely improved my viewpoint on life.
Post Malone to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1
Every Post Malone album blows us away even more than the last, so maybe we’re a little biased here, but we really think AUSTIN is his most impressive, evocative record to date. It continues the honesty and vulnerability of Twelve Carat Toothache while still finding a way to dig even deeper, bringing us right into his world while also refusing to let the outside taint the privacy and comfort of the world he’s built for himself.
Now we wanna hear from you! Which track on AUSTIN is your favorite? Do you have any theories on the storyline? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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