Following the breakout success of his debut album Mutt and its inescapable, self-titled hit single, Leon Thomas has announced his next project, an EP called Pholks. The Disney Channel mainstay turned R&B star announced the new EP alongside the release of its first single, “Just How You Are.”
A funky, upbeat clarion call to the dance floor, “Just How You Are” promises a new direction for Thomas after the spacier, P-Funk-inspired production on Mutt, or its equally syrupy deluxe edition. Rather, it’s more in line with Thomas’ recent collaboration with YG, a more percussion-forward product that shakes off the blues of his prior efforts in favor of brighter sounds and lyrics portraying the other side of the “Mutt” equation: “If you know you had my heart / Could never finish what you started / You love to pick my world apart / But that’s just how you are.”
Thomas has been promoting the single on his social channels for the past week, showing off behind-the-scenes photos and clips from the music video shoot and teasing snippets of the lyrics. Later this month, he kicks off his Mutts Don’t Heel Tour in Dallas, which will run through to just before Christmas in Los Angeles.
You can listen to “Just How You Are” below. Pholks is due on 10/24 via Columbia Records. You can pre-save it here.