Key Takeaways:

• PHOLKS showcases Leon Thomas’ genre-blending model, fusing funk, soul, and R&B.
• The EP attracts on Black rock influences and incorporates a standout collaboration with 4batz.
• Thomas would possibly carry out tracks from PHOLKS at ONE Musicfest and on tour this fall.

Leon Thomas is proving, as soon as once more, that he’s extra than simply the pen behind different folks’s hits. After scoring one of many largest hits of his profession with “MUTT” and solidifying his star energy by May’s HEEL, the songwriting polymath has returned with PHOLKS.

Preceded by “Just How You Are,” the bold providing explores psychedelic funk, whereas nonetheless carrying the R&B and soul that followers have come to anticipate from him. Across the seven-song effort, that experimentation pays off in full. On “My Muse,” Thomas sings, “‘Cause you’re not my girl, but you’re still my muse / Make me wanna get my money up and spend it on you.”

Elsewhere, the Grammy-winning artist croons about “gambling on love” over the luxurious array of drums and reside instrumentation on “Baccarat.” The undertaking’s solely function comes from 4batz, reuniting the 2 after their link-up on the Dallas native’s Still Shinin’ final month. Together, they make for an enchanting duo, and like at all times, Thomas actually is aware of the best way to push his collaborators out of their consolation zones.

“It taps into a lot of the roots of why I make music,” Thomas instructed Spotify of PHOLKS. “I just wanted to make something that was fun to sing for anybody.”

“It’s about the things that inspire me and the fact that music-bias”>Black music, as you mentioned earlier, isn’t just attributed to R&B — it’s also attributed to rock and roll,” he continued. “Jimi Hendrix was a huge inspiration for me, and a lot of the records — outside of ‘My Muse’ and ‘Just How You Are’ — are really using that psychedelic influence and live instrumentation.”

Fans will get the possibility to see PHOLKS carried out reside this weekend at Atlanta’s music-fest-2025-lineup-atlanta”>ONE Musicfest. After that, Thomas will start his “Mutts Don’t Heel Tour” subsequent Thursday (Oct. 30) at House of Blues Dallas. The North American leg runs by Dec. 22, with the “YES IT IS” hitmaker heading abroad to Europe in March 2026.