By Lewis Ulm

On a cold Friday morning I sat down to listen to BROCKHAMPTON’s fifth album GINGER expecting fully to be warmed up by the stellar production and hard-hitting classics that the group has become notorious for. But after one listen, I was seriously underwhelmed by the new direction the group took, and surprised that they were still held down by the limitations they showed on previous records.

Over twenty listens later, I’m hooked.

After struggling to return to the former prowess of the incredible SATURATION trilogy with IRIDESCENCE in 2018, the boys seem to have reinvented themselves and their purpose as a boy band. No longer is the energetic, bouncy and fun production the highlight of their albums, they are now being honest with themselves and their fans in both lyricism and instrumentation.

Because behind more masterful work from Jabari Manwa, Romil Hemnani and the rest of the production crew, the six vocalists of BROCKHAMPTON create a vivid soundscape of anguish, regret and remembrance in what is easily their darkest album yet. While the energy and fun remains in the beats behind these lyrics, it only serves to deliver a poignancy of severe magnitude as the listener struggles to comprehend the pain of the artists over bouncy rhythms and some slapping 808’s.

However, the most significant shift in direction for the group was their decision to answer the question that has plagued the band since the end of the SATURATION hype: what about Ameer? After Ameer Vann was kicked out of the group in early 2018, fans have questioned the group’s feelings on the situation due to a lack of information and statements from the artists. What they have done in GINGER is answer these questions with immense emotion and power, all condensed into the track DEARLY DEPARTED. Clearly one of the highlights of the album, Dom McLennon tears into the former member with a ravage of personal afflictions and built-up anger, lashing out on the microphone with easily the most emotional verse BROCKHAMPTON has released to date.

Other highlights include SUGAR, which sees the group return to what they became popular for in 2017 - some damn good hooks. The song is incredibly catchy and all artists ride the beat naturally, displaying their lyrical expertise and consistent ability to blend in their individual styles to make a perfect whole. This blend is done well again on ST. PERCY, a stereo-breaking bop that navigates the different energies and characteristics of each artist, building up to a glaring Merlyn hook that expertly caps off one of the best tracks on the album.

I also found the singles released prior to the album fit better in the moody context of GINGER. Not being much of a fan of I BEEN BORN AGAIN when it first came out, it seems to justify its place on the tracklist due to the heavy topics it addresses, but also the redemptive qualities the title and lyrics express. LOVE ME FOR LIFE was teased in an earlier snippet for the album and was initially disappointing, but it has become one of my favourites due to the verses not featured in the snippet, such as Kevin’s syncopated verse that fits perfectly with the detached rhythm of the song.

However, while I do believe that GINGER is an impressive follow-up to their disappointing prior record, the group is still held down by problems both new and old. Features are a relatively new territory for the group, and it shows. British newcomer Slowthai makes an appearance early on with his own track, but it surprisingly doesn’t follow on to IF YOU PRAY RIGHT, which features the same production. It feels messy and I would have much preferred him to be used as an introduction to the track rather than a seemingly mistaken stand-alone. He kills the verse though.

But the old problems still plague the group and I feel will inhibit me from listening to this album in the future. The group has simply become too predictable and feels stuck in how they should utilise each of their individual talents. Songs tend to blend in to each other because of the patterns of verses placements that appear in a lot of BROCKHAMPTON songs. The prime example is the use of Bearface.

It just feels like he has a crooning solo in the second half of every song, and this becomes repetitive and annoying. Their creative use of the singer comes with songs like SUGAR, but seriously damages tracks like LOVE ME FOR LIFE and NO HALO, among others. Artists like Joba seem to have taken new creative directions in this album with their vocal projection and tempo of their verses, so I expect on their next record will change, but for now it is disappointing. BROCKHAMPTON’s allure comes from their unpredictability, but after five albums this is rapidly changing.

But despite my quarrels with the same problems BROCKHAMPTON seem to have always had, GINGER stands out as a solid album to add to the group’s discography. They still haven’t made a bad album, and that is incredibly impressive for the speed that they have rolled out their music and the drama that has coerced its way into the mainframe.

GINGER gives me hope that the band will continue to take risks and experiment with new directions in the future. In a post-Ameer world, BROCKHAMPTON has accepted their grievances and finally moved through an emotional foray of moody production and deep lyricism. The boys are back and born again, and now only one question remains: what’s next?

Album of the Week: BROCKHAMPTON's "GINGER"

By Lewis Ulm