Post Malone has been flirting with country music for years now. There are several videos of him turning in great covers of classic country songs. For instance, he played “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere” with Dwight Yoakam on Sirius XM, covered “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” in a bar, and famously covered Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her” and Sturgill Simpson’s “You Can Have the Crown” during a benefit concert. So, when he announced F-1 Trillion, fans of classic country got excited.
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The singles from F-1 Trillion—“I Had Some Help,” “Pour Me a Drink,” and “Guy for That” didn’t do much for the fans who hoped to hear traditional-sounding country songs from Post Malone’s genre debut. However, many held out hope that the album cuts would deliver something different. While this was true for a few standout tracks, the overall collection didn’t measure up to many fans’ hopes. Unfortunately, though, it met their expectations.
[RELATED: 3 of The Hardest-Hitting Lyrics on Post Malone’s ‘F-1 Trillion’]
Even collaborations from some of the biggest names in the genre including Lainey Wilson, Dolly Parton, Billy Strings, and Hank Williams Jr. didn’t impress listeners who hoped to hear something other than radio-ready pop country.
The album did contain some highlights, though. His collaborations with Parton, Strings, and Wilson stood out. However, the solo songs—“Yours,” “What Don’t Belong to Me,” and “Right About You”—were without a doubt the best on the album.
Then, early this afternoon, Posty announced the release of F-1 Trillion: Long Bed. The extended version of the album features nine additional solo songs. More importantly, it delivers the country album fans were hoping to hear this morning.
Post Malone Delivers with F-1 Trillion: Long Bed
Disc two of F-1 Trillion opens with “Fallin’ in Love” which sounds like it could have been on the radio in the early ‘90s. It sets the mood for the rest of the solo cuts. “Dead at the Honky Tonk,” a classic song about heartbreak, drinking, and swinging doors follows it. From the theme to the instrumentation, it’s the kind of country many expected from Malone in his genre debut.
“Killed a Man” is the emotional high point of the entire collection. The song about self-improvement and transformation sees Post Malone at his most vulnerable. In the chorus, he sings, He can’t hurt the ones I love / He can’t break no angel’s heart / He can’t take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart / He can’t stand there in mirror / He can’t tell me no more lies / I killed a man / I killed a man last night.
“Two Hearts,” a somber tune about divorce, is another highlight of the collection. Driven by fiddle and acoustic guitar, the track tells the story of a couple with young children who split and feels like a nod to Toby Keith’s “Who’s That Man.”
You Can Take the Boy Out of Texas…
Post Malone was born in New York but he moved to Grapevine, Texas at the age of nine. The final tracks on the extended collection see him paying homage to the Lone Star State. “Who Needs You” is a kiss-off song set to a Western Swing beat. The fiddle work on the track conjures memories of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and it’s hard to get more Texas than that.
Then, in “Back to Texas,” Malone recounts his travels from Nashville to Los Angeles and admits he’d rather be home in Texas over fiddle, pedal steel, and a strong back beat.
In short, if F-1 Trillion felt left you wishing Post Malone’s country debut was a little more country, Long Bed is what you were waiting for.
Featured Image by Christopher Victorio/Shutterstock
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