Leon Thomas breaks away from one-hit wonder mold with soulful ‘PHOLKS’ EP
"PHOLKS" proves Thomas is bigger than a former-Victorious star or one-hit wonder. He's solidified his status as one of R&B’s newest breakout stars. Jalyn Cronkrite | Contributing Illustrator
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Over a decade ago, Leon Thomas made a name for himself as the musically talented and fun-loving Andre Harris on Nickelodeon’s TV show “Victorious.”
Since his memorable performance as the show’s comedic best friend, Thomas has evolved into one of the world’s top R&B artists, winning a Grammy in 2024 for his work on SZA’s smash hit “Snooze” and earning Best New Artist at the 2025 BET Awards.
On Oct. 23, he built on this breakout success with the release of his new EP, “PHOLKS.”
Across the EP’s seven tracks and 21-minute runtime, the former “Victorious” star takes listeners on an emotional journey of heartbreak and yearning.
In the EP, Thomas proves he’s not a one-hit wonder after the 2024 release of “MUTT.” The single racked up over 300 million streams, catapulting his singing career and ensuing his sophomore album of the same name. “PHOLKS” has the same powerful vocals and smooth, soulful lyrics, but introduces a deeper level of emotional storytelling.
In the first track, “Just How You Are,” Thomas is firm in his comfort zone with heavy bass and cutting instrumentals. In its lyrics, he wants a relationship with someone he’ll never stop chasing, unable to help himself despite warning signs that it’s not meant to be.
“Wrote all these songs ’bout you / And you never even said a word / Not even just to say you heard / I guess ‘congrats’ is your least favorite word,” he sings.
These themes of unrequited love and longing bleed into “My Muse.” But here, the instrumentals are much softer. The track fades out on a blend of strings as Thomas continues to yearn for someone else’s love. In this song, his desperation grows.
“Make me wanna get my money up and spend it on you / You’re not my girl, but you still my muse / You supposed to be my number one, and not his number two, woah.”
He follows with “5MoreMinutes,” where his vocals are guttural and raw, fighting with the track’s upbeat rhythm. The conflicting nature of his vocals and the instrumentals reflects Thomas’ internal struggles: he knows his love is one-sided, but is unable to stop himself from longing.
“And the world don’t wanna see us together / Who cares what the world wanna see?” he sings.
“Trapped” is the darkest point for Thomas in the EP, highlighted by the track’s subtle guitar and percussion. He crashes from the weight of knowing his love will never be enough, watching his former romantic interest fall for someone else.
The level of melancholy in the singer’s lyrics highlights the deeper emotional storytelling in “PHOLKS.” The track picks up and builds in tension before carrying into “Baccarat.”
In this song, Thomas lets his frustration loose, punctuated by the quick electric guitar chords and heavy drum solos that open the track. His vocals, while still powerful, are unlike his other music with a repetitive and chaotic tone as the singer feels emotionally overwhelmed. While the track might throw listeners off, it’s a nice change of pace from the rest of the EP and the singer’s music as a whole.
“You say I’m a player, but I’m not / I just crush a lot, crush a lot / I’ma take a blame every time / Every time, just like Baccarat,” he sings.
The tempo slows back down in “Feel Alive,” where Thomas moves from the heavy electric guitar and drums into the same bass instrumentals his listeners have grown to love. There’s a haunting nature to the track — the shortest on the EP — as Thomas reflects on his previous mistakes.
While he recognizes where he went wrong, the singer is unashamed of his mistakes with lyrics like, “You don’t gotta miss me when I’m gone, just tell me now / I like to get high so letdowns won’t get me so down.”
“PHOLKS” closes with “Lone Wolf” as the instrumentals even out with consistent drums and piano. Grappling with his mistakes, Thomas embraces the guilt he feels toward his past without letting it consume him or fill him with regret through lyrics like, “All that guilt you carry, how you sleep out here? Lone wolf, everybody a sheep out here.”
The track and the EP close with a faintly spoken message, which can be interpreted as Thomas speaking to himself. The closing message reassures Thomas that he’s worthy of the love and connection he feels and is capable of finding his inner peace without a partner. It adds a psychedelic nature to the EP and its final track, deepening Thomas’ emotional storytelling.
The closing message feels like Thomas is reassuring himself that his talent is deserving of the fame and praise he received from “MUTT.” The verdict: he is.
The emotions and the range in Thomas’ vocals on “PHOLKS” confirm the validity of his previous praise and solidify his status as one of R&B’s newest breakout stars.
