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Malcolm Todd’s “Breathe” Review: Freaky Todd Is Right at Home

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Malcolm Todd's "Breathe" Review: Freaky Todd Is Right at Home

Malcolm Todd is in his freak-out era. It suits him. The 22-year-old LA singer-songwriter returns with “Breathe,” a silky R&B track with a guitar groove that sits in the pocket, released March 13 on Columbia Records.

It’s the first single from his upcoming project and the clearest sign yet that whatever comes after his 600-million-streamed debut won’t be a retreat.

Todd broke through with “Chest Pain (I Love),” which became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped push his self-titled debut album onto the Billboard 200.

“Breathe” is a song about a situationship that was never really over. The hotel suite empties out, it’s just the two of them, and better judgment doesn’t get a vote.

The song opens with three people in a hotel suite. By the chorus it’s just two, and she’s doing something his best friends never could. The bridge is where he tips his hand. He’s not just asking her back, he’s convinced he’s the only one who can bring her back to life.

The vocal layering stacks whispery doubles under the lead, turning the chorus into a low-lit echo. There’s a looseness to it, like some of these takes were recorded while still in the feeling.

Directed by longtime collaborator Aidan Cullen, the video plays the whole thing as a comedy kidnapping.

Malcolm gets tied up with cables, pelted with water guns in a wood-panelled living room, shoved around in a shopping cart outside, and ends up soaking wet performing in a red tank top under a “Home Sweet Home” sign.

All three girls are present start to finish, which cuts against the song’s one-on-one premise. The video isn’t illustrating the lyrics, it’s running its own joke alongside them.

Freaky Todd is back.

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