That exhilaration had to exist alongside something greater, and the next ambition became the small matter of creating their best album yet, one which would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their own inspirations and demonstrate the sheer skill of all four core members. However, now that the elongated and stressful process has concluded and resulted in the devastating vulnerability of '
Flood', Hippo Campus are ready to relax and have some fun again.
This mood is immediately visible as guitarist Nathan Stocker sprints gleefully onto the boards at Shepherd's Bush Empire, a venue that has multiple tiers of fans leaning in to get a look in at these decorated musicians that are making their long-awaited and singular UK return on a Tuesday night. Although singer Jake Luppen is initially clouded by smoke for a moody intro ('Bad Dream Baby'), he is soon exposed with a stage set-up that is as straight-forward as the no-frills style of their recent material. When the songwriting and live chops are this solid, there's no need to hide behind overblown production.
'Paranoid' acknowledges the band's pessimistic, anxious tendencies, 'Tooth Fairy' releases the fear accumulated by living our shared modern reality, and the explosive synth riff of 'Madman' celebrates all the chaos swirling both inside and out. The studio versions of these tracks are differentiated by limited instrumentation that puts deep focus on the heavy lyrics, but tonight, they flow seamlessly into older cuts, and the self-investigation is more cathartic than downtrodden.
Hippo Campus offer insight into their future direction through their setlist choices, pulling top picks out of a flourishing discography. Blue light beams refract off a disco ball for a truly enchanting chorus during 'Boys', 'Yippie Ki Yay' is one of the most charged offerings of the evening despite clear internal disdain for their rogue country project, and the title track of '
Bambi' gets its flowers too.
It is the mischievous '
Good Dog, Bad Dream' that makes an unexpected rise, though, and the fans chanting 'Sex Tape' throughout couldn't be happier to hear it. These glitchy, alt-pop musings reflect the sense of humour that Hippo Campus display offline, and their musical skill brings them to live in an entirely new way; when deviance meets authenticity, it's hard not to dance along.
