Malcom Todd Feels Incomplete On His Self-titled Debut Album

The luckiest of musicians can break through without a hit debut record. Sometimes, all it takes is a standout single to catapult someone into familiarity. Then, the final hurdle to fame is delivering a solid debut and dodging a sophomore slump. For some, this transition to stardom happens with ease. But for Malcolm Todd, the road to fame's been filled with potholes.

His highly anticipated debut album, "Malcolm Todd", dropped on Friday, though most fans view his 2024 mixtape, "Sweet Boy", as his true debut. So, does that make "Malcolm Todd" his debut album or a follow-up LP? It's a question Todd struggles with throughout the record.

Before Todd signed a deal with Columbia Records and became considered, by some, a "TikTok artist," he was an average, unsuspecting SoundCloud artist. He quickly found an undiscovered niche — a bedroom pop revival infused with indie rock. It's the sound that led to the rise of his first hit single, "Chest Pain (I Love)." Now, 364 days after the release of "Sweet Boy", Todd has a chance to move up the indie-pop ranks.

"Harry Styles," the song, not the singer himself, is the opening track and an immediate bummer. It's the first of a series of incomplete "complete" songs littered throughout the album. It lays the ground for some of the sounds for listeners to familiarize themselves with, but in the end, it's a weak hook.

Following the opener with "Make Me a Better Man" and "Who's the Fool" put doubts to rest, at least momentarily. They're a pair of "Sweet Boy"-sounding songs with tight production — a refreshing change. "Make Me a Better Man" is more polished than the rest, and its lyricism finds a pocket of storytelling, which Todd's early work relied on.

The excitement softens after a pair of creatively dull tracks, including "Doll." Maybe Todd's a fan of PinkPantheress' short-length song approach, but he often constrains himself to a time limit that creates a dissonance between lyrics and depth. Many songs on the LP are under two minutes and either don't say enough or say nothing at all.

The singer finds control on "Bleed (feat. Omar Apollo)" — a necessary feature. A synthy "To Be Hunted"-like guitar punch drives a catchy group of Todd-led verses before Apollo illustrates one of the album's best moments.

Track nine, "Walk To Class," is nothing like "Bleed (feat. Omar Apollo)," but it finds a groove between Todd's past and present that complicates and derails other, less memorable tracks on the album. "Walk To Class" is a contemporary college long-distance ballad set through Zoom conversations rather than love letters. If it's not relatable to you, it will be for someone you know.

To deliver on commercial expectations, Todd often loses the lyrical whimsy and reality that found him a following, which is a fault that corrupts songs that are stuck in the demo stage. But, he pulls it together in the end.

The penultimate track, "Cheer Me On," leaves a satisfying taste in your mouth and signals the sound Todd might be entering next. It's the song to share with your friends — aux-friendly, but more importantly, catchy in a way that doesn't camouflage the rest of the song's specialties. A lo-fi power-pop riff controls the back half of the track, ending in answers to questions Todd's been asking the whole album with lyrics like, "You need to know my name / You need to like my face / I'm living for your eyes / I'm not doing this for me."

"Malcolm Todd" is like a baseball player who runs out of the batter's box before swinging. Yes, he'll reach base, but will it count? The tracks that respect a balance of thoughtful lyricism and mellow instrumentals prove Todd's talent, yet pressing replay on the album feels unlikely.

Maybe it was a rush to commercial success or the need to prove his worth, but Todd's debut album is too little too soon. Though it's filled with exciting moments worth returning to, its low points miss out on creating a cohesive LP that would’ve favored his career in the long run.

(Originally published for The Daily Targum, April 2025)