Austin (2023)

Austin is the fifth studio album by American musician Post Malone. It was released through Mercury and Republic Records on July 28, 2023. The bonus version of the album was released five days later, and included a new track. Production was handled by Malone himself, Andrew Watt, Louis Bell, Max Martin, and Rami Yacoub. Austin was supported by four singles: "Chemical", "Mourning", "Overdrive", and "Enough Is Enough". A departure from the hip-hop and R&B-influenced sounds of its predecessors, it is a guitar-based pop, indie pop, and pop rock album, and is Malone's first and only project not to feature any guest appearances.

Austin received generally positive reviews from music critics and debuted at number two on Billboard 200 chart, in which it earned 113,000 album-equivalent units, of which 34,000 units were pure album sales.

Background and promotion

On May 15, 2023, Malone posted a video on Instagram to announce the album, which is titled after his real first name. The message hinted at a different artistic approach, possibly intensifying the sound of his fourth studio album, Twelve Carat Toothache (2022). Malone revealed that he played the guitar on every single song on the album, calling the creation process a "fun experience". He described the outcome as the "most challenging and rewarding music" he had ever made, which was a product of constantly making himself work to make it. That same day, Malone also announced a summer North American tour called the If Y'all Weren't Here, I'd Be Crying Tour to accompany the release of the album, which later became a world tour that started on July 8 and ended on December 3, 2023.

Singles

On April 14, 2023, Malone released the lead single of the album, "Chemical". The second single of the album, "Mourning", was released on May 19. The third single, "Overdrive", was released on July 14. The fourth and final single, "Enough Is Enough", was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio, on September 8, 2023.

Critical reception

Austin was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 66, based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 5.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.