Review Summary: Mi llamo Roberto y este es el final.
Brockhampton are an extremely complex beast, the LA based boy band have gone from strength to strength over the past six months since the release of May’s Saturation. Now let me start by saying, 3 albums in this frame of time is a feat for the majority of artists, but to keep them to such a high standard of quality is something that could be seen as a near impossible task.
The collective have been able to keep their fans hungry and desperate for the next release day in and day out through their focus on having a triple threat team based around lyricism, production and their publicity. It’s no secret to those who have kept a keen eye on Brockhampton that the band have had a love-hate relationship with their fanbase thanks to Kevin Abstract’s sometimes unfaithful statements about the band’s progress and the almost consistent release of material with demos and streams adding more and more fuel to the fire.
Saturation III is a conclusion, the final movement in Brockhampton’s first project (the coming movie withstanding). It should come as no surprise that this album in particular should be able to bring together each members’ strengths and to truly play upon them to their fullest potential. Bouncing between smooth and relaxed beats to reverb filled, erratic sections then flinging themselves back over huge dance-worthy backdrops loaded with bass. Each track fits its own niche, allowing each rapper to shine. The two that truly step up to the plate this time around are Matt Champion and Joba, Champion’s laid back, lyrically dense flows ooze a level of confidence that would make even the most forthright of people to question themselves. Whereas Joba allows himself to effortlessly move between unsettled and brash vocal sections to laying down some of the most personal lyrics explored within the trilogy along his harmonious singing. This doesn’t take away from the other members, Kevin himself is still king of the hooks, nearly every track comes with a chorus that sticks in your mind for hours like the most tenacious of earworms. Dom Mclennon and Ameer Vann are as ruthless and efficient as ever, Dom in particular displaying that he is far and above the most meticulous and technical member in terms of flow. Merlyn Wood has also been given an opportunity to be brought more into the forefront with his howling and senseless Ghanaian influenced verses. Although somewhat briefly featured on every album it is hard to ignore bearface.’s crooning vocals and My Bloody Valentine inspired ballads that are completely laden with reverb-coated guitar, TEAM is no different, powerful and oozing emotion that really does leave you craving a solo project, but as Kevin has said, we won’t be seeing solo projects for a long time.
Although the album tends to go from strength to strength exploring areas in which the boy band have not tread before, seemingly more experimental than ever, some tracks do seem to be divisive. Most notably HOTTIE, the groups most commercial sounding song to date, coming across more as a club hit than their usual rough and ready beats. This does lend itself to an area of strength for the album however, showing that although the group may be trying to take a track to influence commercial success focussed more on melody than anything else and still being able to execute such a track with the level of quality they’ve become known for is impressive to say the least.
The success that this album may bring the group would be hard to fully understand without a mention to their team behind the scenes, most importantly Romil Hemnani and Jabari Manwa, the main production team for the album. These two individuals have bared most of the weight from the Saturation trilogy by being the driving force between the infectious, unorthodox and memorable beats coming through in each record. Saturation III is no different, with the two truly exploring their abilities to the fullest extent by reaching outside of the groups previously established comfort zone. Taking influence from many other artists, such as Outkast and Death Grips, allowing them to truly find areas in which the group may be able to show their proficiency and flow while truly challenginf themselves. With numerous beat changes, tempo switches and a much stronger variety in styles through the album the beats never become anything less than awesome.
I’ll admit, this may come across as biased being that I’ve followed the trilogy with such excitement from my own perspective, but Brockhampton have in 6 months have managed to make an impact that some artists never make in years. Whether their music resonates with you or not, it is hard to ignore the level of effort and the work ethic that has been put to this project. Going forward it will be hard to ignore the space that Brockhampton are creating for themselves in the music industry through nothing but brute force.
