Kevin Abstract - Blanket

Kevin Abstract finds himself in a post-BROCKHAMPTON existence, and ‘Blanket’ marks his first solo outing since 2019’s superb ‘ARIZONA BABY’. Released almost a year to the day since BROCKHAMPTON’s final show, their former leader seeks a creative tether. And by and large, ‘Blanket’ is an exercise in reinvention. ‘When The Rope Post 2 Break’ and the title track are built on grunge guitars in place of the lo-fi trap beats that furnished his prior work. Gone are the conscious raps, and in their place are saccharine melodies and disquieting whispers, like Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged put through an indie-pop filter. Throughout ‘Blanket’, he employs a range of effects to alter his voice on the likes of the pitch-shifted ‘Real 2 Me’ or the nauseatingly autotuned ‘Madonna’. It’s a novel idea on paper, but in execution makes ‘Blanket’ feel like a homemade compilation of artists who inspire him. Most intriguing of all though, is that an album so focused on matters of the heart can feel so half-hearted. Love and loss are recurring themes throughout, but tracks like ‘The Greys’ do nothing to convey the emotion of it all, even when he sings “I can’t be alone”. There are bright spots, like the haunting ‘Heights, Spiders And The Dark’, or ‘What Should I Do?’, but these are few and far between. It’s clear that Kevin Abstract is trying to find himself and figure out where he fits in today’s musical tapestry. He’s not short of ideas and if he can zero in on a select few, he will produce something far better next time around.