After their swift rise from the Saturation series to the top of the charts with 2018's
iridescence, hip-hop boy band
Brockhampton returned a year later with their fifth set,
Ginger. Less rascally and rambunctious than their prior output,
Ginger found the crew delving deeper into heavy emotional territory, tackling mental health, depression, betrayal, and struggles with love, faith, identity, and substance abuse. With sonic gravity to match, the album featured some of their most languid atmospherics to date, with production by Jabari Manwa, Romil Hemnani, and Kiko Merley tapping into the emotional side of
Brockhampton just as well as the group's vocalists. That depth is immediately apparent on opener "No Halo," a plaintive group cut that features vocalist Deb Never joining an unusually subdued crew (even usual live-wire Merlyn Wood takes his time with his verse). The touching vocals from Never, Wood, Matt Champion,
bearface, and leader
Kevin Abstract pair perfectly with
Dom McLennon's and Joba's standout rap verses, one of many collective highlight moments on this taut set. As their most compact effort to date,
Ginger wastes little time, delivering a fully immersive and inventive genre-blurring experience akin to contemporary-era releases by
Tyler, the Creator and
Frank Ocean. There are relatively upbeat hip-hop cuts like the loopy "Boy Bye," the menacing "St. Percy," and the popping "I Been Born Again," which fall right alongside less aggressive moments like the synth-poppy title track. "If You Pray Right" boasts the strangest, most deviously catchy production, a marquee moment for
McLennon bolstered by circus horns and spooky carnival quirkiness. In fact,
McLennon might be the MVP of the entire effort, his intensity and delivery hitting a particular sweet spot with
Ginger's content (a scathing closing verse on "Dearly Departed" is just another example). At this point of the
Brockhampton story, the boys have tempered the antics and wild-child energy of past releases, maturing with an authentic grace that will only further endear them to fans of past work looking for more substance and sentiment. ~ Neil Z. Yeung