BROCKHAMPTON, GINGER, Album Review
BROCKHAMPTON
GINGER
Album Review
The worlds greatest boy-band is back, and continuing their tradition of releasing at least one project every year with their newest album GINGER.
The ever-productive nature of BROCKHAMPTON was made evident by the swift release of this new album. Each of the teaser tracks came in the weeks before the full albums release, and almost felt the small leaks that appear in a dam before the whole thing falls apart. In other words, the transition between the albums announcement and its release was very spontaneous.
With the teaser tracks that we got, it seemed like BROCKHAMPTON were possibly making an aesthetic return to the style that was found in their SATURATION trilogy which arguably put the group on the map, which I was very happy with.
To add a little more context, BROCKHAMPTON's previous project iridescence was released almost a full year ago now, and this album didn't feel nearly as strong as any of the three SATURATION albums. Possibly because of the band going through a few changes, including the break-up between them and founding member Ameer Vann. But at this stage, it seemed like the group was slightly stumbling.
Needless to say, this album appeared to be far more promising, thanks to its teasers. And once the full album released, it certainly started off well. The albums first track "NO HALO" is a soothing but engaging tune that I could imagine being on a Kid Cudi album if not this one. However, as I would argue that it is currently my favourite track on GINGER, this unfortunately means that this album's best, is gotten out of the way before the rest.
While track number 1 is indeed my favourite, there are still countless tracks which I greatly enjoyed, from the gorgeous and SATURATION III-esque "SUGAR", to the interesting bars from slowthai of all artists found on "HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU", to the similarities to Tyler, the Creator's IGOR on "DEARLY DEPARTED".
The first half of this album is incredibly strong, and at this point, GINGER was absolutely squashing iridescence under its thumb. However, I cant quite say the same about the later half of the album (the last 4 songs to be specific). These tracks aren't necessarily bad in any predominant way, they do just feel like they were reverting back to the style of iridescence again. But ignoring this, this is all-around a stellar album.
Another thing I enjoyed about this album is that it was one of those where once the teaser tracks fit themselves into there, I seemed to enjoy each of them a little more. Whether this was because of the fantastic flow of the album or how there might be a kind of continuous aesthetic, I simply found myself appreciating these tracks further.
When coming out of listening to this album, I would still argue that GINGER is 100 percent a step in the right direction for BROCKHAMPTON, and musical proof that the band have rediscovered their footing.
Thank you for reading,
Booth Boy
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