Album: HAN

Artist: Berhana

Genre: R&B

Record Label(s): EQT Recordings

Recommended Tracks: Track 5-I Been and Track 10-G2g

Amain Berhane, aka Berhana, is one of the most colorful and exciting voices coming up in the R&B and pop scene (although he objects to the concept of genre). Berhana does not limit his artistic voice just to music, as he initially sought to pursue screenwriting while attending The New School in New York. Berhana’s cinematic vision is obvious when watching his music videos, one of which, Janet, was instrumental in orchestrating Berhana’s meteoric rise after his self-released, self-titled debut EP. However, as Berhana has stated in multiple interviews, he doesn’t just approach the visual content that accompanies his music with the eye of a screenwriter or director, but his music itself is supposed to portray a vivid and coherent picture to the listener. When speaking about his aforementioned 6-track EP, he said “I guess for me, it’s kind of a project about growth. I wanted to make something that almost felt like a documentary.”¹ This is an artistic vision that he definitely carries over onto the project in question, HAN, which is much more streamlined than the vignette style songwriting of his EP. The concept of the album is that the listener is on a plane ride, with 5 different spoken interludes done in the style of an automated pre-flight safety announcement acting as the album’s skeleton, and introducing the theme or themes that will be explored within the next few tracks. Berhana spoke recently in an interview about how this album was supposed to feel like a direct continuation of the narrative he started crafting on his debut EP, and also hinted that his next project will also tie into whatever lore or storyline he may be sculpting. When asked what the concept of this album was, he said “ I always wanted it to be this kind of journey. The very last line in “Grey Luh” [the last song on his EP] is “cop this one way out to Mexico, cause you compress my soul and call it love.” So I knew that I wanted this next thing to feel like a journey and feel like an experience.”² So each song represents a leg of a journey, and much like a hero within a cinematic arc, berhana exhibits change throughout the course of the album. Overall, I’d give this album a 3.5/5. While Berhana delivers a far more polished and musically competent product on HAN, I do think the genuine, unkempt, hazy aesthetic of his debut EP as well as the stickiness of many of the hooks on that project that made Berhana such a refreshing and electric new voice are lost to some of the refinement. However, I also applaud the shift to more production done by Berhana himself, as well as the major innovations Berhana has made to his sound in order to show his multifaceted talent and ability. 

My first standout track is one of the singles, I Been, which features vocals from Korean RnB artist Crush. This is one of the tracks more reminiscent of Berhana’s 2016 sound. The track opens with bright synth over rolling wave sounds, and only gets bopier when the drums and Berhana’s simplistic but catchy verse and chorus join the composition. This song doesn’t shine based off of lyrical density, but the simple and bouncy instrumentation and accompanying beachy embellishments should definitely land this song on your playlist the next time you’re planning to cruise down the PCH (ideally in a 1967 Chevy Bel Air, and even more ideally a baby blue one). 

G2g or got to go is definitely my favorite track on the album. Immediately I was struck by the beginning, which abandons Berhana’s typical lush, smooth, and sunny instrumental palette for driving punchy guitars, and Berhana comes in and lays down a shouty pained verse about trying to escape this failed relationship. It sounds way more reminiscent of something that would’ve come out of the catalogue of someone like Bakar than anything Berhana has done. However, as fun as the energy of the first half of the track is, the true gems of the song lie in some of the later parts. This song perfectly showcases the growth of Berhana’s scope, musicality, and sonic sensibilities. After the first part, we are greeted by wavering and atmospheric vocals repeating the same refrain, trancing the listener into a dreamy lull, and then out of this a drum and bass break springs forth, with some super compelling bass licks, and a generally really fascinating and dense atmosphere about it. This song illustrates Berhana’s insane potential to craft songs driven by storytelling, and eliciting specific images within the mind of the listener. It truly feels like a score to something, and if you like this song I’d definitely check out the music video to see that realized.  Berhana has shown the ability to create intricately crafted yet bare distillations of intimate moments and spaces within his life, and has translated that approach well to a larger more ambitious project. While this project isn’t as undeniably catchy as his debut mixtape, many of the risks he takes in increasing his ambition and adding complexity to his songwriting payoff. On future projects, I’m excited to see how Berhana develops his cinematic approach to songwriting and what perspective he decides to treat listeners to, as well as seeing how he contrasts the plain soulfulness that ignited his career on his first project, and the more developed musical concepts he employs on this album. If you like Berhana, I would go ahead and check out Choker, early Masego (especially ThePink Polo EP), Blood Orange, and Toro y Moi. This album is definitely worth a listen if you enjoy R&B of any sort, especially if you’re looking for something to keep your summer vibes alive even as the calendar rolls further and further away from days of sunny bliss.

Album: Truth Is

Artist: Sabrina Claudio

Genre: R&B

Record Label(s): Atlantic Records and RedOne Records

Recommended Tracks: Track 4-Hurt People and Track 8-As Long As You’re Asleep

Sabrina Claudio is an up and coming R&B artist whose mix of polished and nocturnal pop production, driving rhythms, and high-pitched heartbroken balladry has garnered her a sizeable fanbase, critical intrigue, and a slew of producers and songwriters with some pop hits under their belts (i.e. Stint, Sir Nolan, Stephen Moccio) willing and eager to collaborate with her. Claudio first found slivers of spotlight through her song covers that she posted to Twitter, Soundcloud, and Youtube. The few of her covers I could find were clear stylistic antecedents to her current work, with less lush developed production and more apparent influences. Claudio’s love and affinity for music started in the world of dance, specifically the salsa and merengue that are near inescapable in the streets of her native Miami. Her musical sensibilities were furthered by her love of R&B, more specifically some of the powerhouses of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, such as Lauryn Hill, Usher, Boyz II Men, Alicia Keys, etc. Within her newer music she doesn’t travel too far down the path of genre fusion, however her love of rhythm across genres can be seen by her adherence to strong backbeats in contrast with the slower, moodier sounds she elects throughout most of her catalogue. On October 4th, Claudio released her debut album, Truth Is. She has three previously released mixtapes under her belt, Confidently Lost. About Time, and No Rain, No Flowers, which were all released in 2017 and 2018. Truth Is finds Claudio in her dreariest of states yet, with each song being a different rumination on the loss of love and the multi-faceted pain that she is experiencing during her process of coping with this loss. To call it a breakup album might be slightly reductive, as each song delves into a different situation, and while the theme of anguish is strongly embedded within the album, it isn’t omnipresent across the track list. Overall I’d give this latest venture a 3 out 5, as Claudio finds hypnotizing and compelling recesses within her sound, however her sound lacks the individual sonic identity that it needs to differentiate itself from the vast field of woozy, airy-voiced pop and R&B that have coloured the top of the charts as of late.

“Hurt People” is definitely the first standout track for me. It follows the star-driven Rumors with ZAYN, which doesn’t quite capitalize on its potential. The track opens with the surprising production choice of nearly naked, meandering guitar, with pluckiness and spaciousness reminiscent of some of the tracks on Rihanna’s ANTI. While not completely out of left field, the variance in pallette is much appreciated within the record, which does tend to stay much more within a specific mood than past Claudio projects. While this does create more articulated and conceptual record, it also leads to some sense of plodding through the same territory without a ton of innovation. “Hurt People” centers around two lovers who just can’t seem to get it right despite the fact that they are all each other have, due to the fact that they are “hurt people”. Again, this is not a frontier songwriting that hasn’t been explored in depth, however Claudio does paint a tragic yet beautiful picture of learning how to love despite past damage that impairs said ability. The layering of the vocals in the second half of the track act as a sort of calm explosion out of the sparse production, and truly color the painful experience of hurting the only person she loves.

In contrast, Track 8 “As Long As You’re Asleep” seems initially to be one of  the brighter spots on the album. The song starts with a couple sunny piano chords, and Claudio flexing her control within the higher register of her voice, and then a strong computerized drumline kicks the song into gear. Initially, the song sounds like a poetic and dreamy ballad of adoration, like the kind of thing one would sing from the garden below their lover’s balcony (for example, the opening sounds a lot like “Japanese Denim” by Daniel Caesar). However, when the chorus hits the contrast between the sound of the song and the torment it describes comes to light. Essentially, Claudio now derives comfort in the early hours of the morning, as she knows that her ex-lover is asleep , because at least that way he’s not giving his new girl what he gave her, whether that be sexual or otherwise. The last two tracks (not including the bonus track) of the album mark later stages of Claudio’s grieving process, however this morsel of comfort can almost be marked as her lowest point in this process. The subversion of the dark lyrical content with the major chords and generally cheerful disposition of the song creates a really interesting track that captures Claudio’s potential as a songwriter. 

I hope Claudio strays a little bit from the beaten path of R&B starlet-ism, as in her best moments she mixes skillful songwriting, eclectic influences, strong vocal control, and decisive and deliberate production decisions to make some genuinely interesting songs. However, her potential is obscured upon early listens to this project, as she blends in so easily to the rising faces post-Lorde pop scene. Truth Is doesn’t mark a misstep in her discography, as it is a genuinely enjoyable project, however it doesn’t command attention in the way that I think she’s capable of doing. If you like Sabrina Claudio I would recommend listening to Jorja Smith, Kali Uchis, or Ella Mai. This album is definitely worth a listen if you’re a fan of pop but want something with a moody spin, or generally want to keep up with potential faces of tomorrow’s pop scene.