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Emma McIntyre / Staff via Getty Images, Taylor Hill / Contributor via Getty Images
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Leon Thomas, Halle Bailey
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Leon Thomas has leashed the “Mutt” to deal with matters of the heart on his new single “Rather Be Alone.” The track was unveiled on Friday (April 18), featuring the ethereal vocals of Halle Bailey for the tale of a broken love. Anticipation for the new music reached its climax just 24 hours before the release, on Instagram, where a snippet was first shared.
An early prediction about the musical treat read, “Leon and Halle on the same track?!? My ears are about to be blessed.” And, judging by reactions to the full 3-minute and 10-second duet, fans were in fact delighted with the offering. The song opens with the strumming of guitars. Seconds later, his airy crooning begins with, “I’d rather be alone, rather be alone/ Than in a broken home, I’d rather be alone/ Trying to do this for the both of us.”
The “Grown-ish” actress delivers flawless, angelic-like vocals as she sings, “I take my time losing my mind, I’m thinking of you all of the time/ ‘Cause without you I’m crazy or dangerous, oh baby/ We’re broken but beautiful, so don’t you give up, up on me, baby.” Hours into the collaboration landing on DSPs, fan reviews certified it a “hauntingly beautiful” hit.
On Twitter, one person raved, “Leon Thomas did his big one on this single. I love Halle’s voice. Please, omg I loveeeee [it].” The genius of the two artists moved a second user to tweet, “That new Leon Thomas song with Halle is absolutely PERFECT. It’s giving Frank Ocean.” A third message of praise read, “This is what R&B music been missing.” Nine hours after its debut, a fourth listener asked, “Is it too soon to ask for a Leon Thomas & Halle EP???” A fifth individual said that Bailey’s contribution “makes everything great.”
“Rather Be Alone” is the first single from Leon Thomas’ forthcoming deluxe version of MUTT
MUTT was rolled out in September 2024 and has steadily held its own on the music charts. It can only be assumed that the expanded edition will follow that same trajectory. In February, the “Insecure” actor told BBC Radio 1Xtra that the project has “some really cool features with old friends that, you know, the world loves.” He gushed that Bailey was “amazing” and that he was eager to “get the ladies involved.” Kehlani and Big Sean are among the list of guest appearances for the expanded version, though other lyrical assists have remained largely under wraps. When he spoke with Billboard, he noted, “There [are] sides to me that I haven’t shown the world yet, so I’m spoon-feeding them. You need to hide the medicine in the candy. This deluxe is me stepping deeper into my purpose. At the top of April, the breakout single was sitting high in the No. 1 spot on the R&B Songs Streaming chart with 13.1 million streams.
