Ginger is a brisk, restrained listen. At 12 songs and 44 minutes, Brockhamptons fifth album operates like a tightrope act between the groups propensity for overwhelming earnestness and the chaos of their kinetic cyphers. Thats what makes the albums second track, Sugar, feel like a bold swing after the darkness of the preceding intro track, No Halo.
Wistful and sweet, Sugar is centered by a mesmerizing hook from Ryan Beatty. Spendin all my nights alone, waiting for you to call me, Beattys layered vocals sing on top of a sparse, guitar-driven beat. Youre the only one I want by my side when I fall asleep. As the song unfolds, Jabari and Romil Hemnani slowly introduce more production elements that swell around Beattys voices and ultimately propel the downtempo affair into something far more upbeat. Through a vocoder-like drawl, Dom McLennon delivers one of the albums most emotional verses as his voice twists around the lyrics You can find me dancing in between the raindrops / Tryna find a way to make the pain stop.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview about the making of Ginger, Kevin Abstract described Brockhamptons desire to make their new album sound like summer.I dont know what makes a song connect anymore, and I dont think people really know, Abstract said. Our album is very summery right now. Even though its maybe rooted in sadness, the goal is to make it feel right and to uplift and to help people get through.
On Sugar, they accomplished just that.