Hippo Campus - Flood

Hippo Campus have come a long way from modest beginnings, levelling up their craftsmanship over three previous LPs that successively heightened the production and angst surrounding their releases while refusing to stay still in any box for a single second. With ‘Flood’, the Minnesotan group have evolved once again. This time, they start deliberately stripping things back until the tracklist lies solely on the strengths of its songwriting and instrumental performance.

Trading immediacy and excitement for a very in-character self-analysis, the revelations made here show off some impressive depths made possible only by sincere growth - band therapy, anyone? Each song may as well be recorded in the room, with Jake Luppen’s transparent vocals, Nathan Stocker’s sharp and layered guitar lines, and Zach Sutton & Whistler Allen’s driving rhythm section flexing chemistry that only arrives after a decade of sticking it out together.

‘Prayer Man’ kicks off the record with both confusion and acceptance (“I’m struggling, but I'm not too proud to admit it”) set to mostly calm sonics with flourishes bringing an eventual emotional purging; ‘Flood’ questions it all again with a scuzzy explosion justifying the internal search, while the vigorously addictive ‘Paranoid’ is a true highlight. It’s not all negative, though; ‘Everything At Once’ finds catharsis in an empowering anthem of overwhelming empathy, and ‘Tooth Fairy’ is overexcited, dynamic and triumphant. By the time we reach the hopeful closer ‘I Got Time’, we have witnessed a whistle-stop tour of Hippo Campus’ sprawling psyche.

Perpetually seeking a concrete sense of identity and this time cementing it in their roots, you can feel in the very texture of ‘Flood’ that the band are still trying to find their place, thinking about where to go next but rediscovering the understanding they discover in each other. At its worst, this is music that dwells on flaws in an oversaturated genre; at its best, it finds strength in acknowledging weakness and inspires you to pick up a guitar to work through your own woes.