After trying his hand at music-making for the first time as a teenager at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it wasn't long before
Malcolm Todd
decided he wanted to pursue it full-time. Drawing comparisons to musicians like
Steve Lacy
and
Dominic Fike
, his experimental R&B-pop productions went viral by 2023, when his songs "Art House" and "Roommate" took off online. Amid a series of EPs, he signed with
Columbia
, culminating in the 2024 mixtape
Sweet Boy
. Arriving a year later,
marks
Todd
's official full-length debut. Structured somewhat like a mixtape, with short interludes, dialogue, and studio outtakes, the 14-track album is highlighted by his Hot 100 debut, "Chest Pain (I Love)," and "Bleed," a duet with
Omar Apollo
. While navigating everything from funky, romantic slow jams ("Walk to Class") to tuneful keyboard pop ("Florence") and horns-accented indie soul ("Lying"),
is playful and mannered far more often than earnest, but our protagonist not taking himself too seriously -- even in the thick of social missteps and heartache -- is part of its youthful charm. ~ Marcy Donelson