Kevin Abstract: ARIZONA BABY - Review

This is a review for my month long Album-a-Day adventure in Jan. 2022. if you want to read the other reviews, check out the original post.

This is case for a few of the albums on my list this year, but I can’t believe I went this long without listening to Kevin Abstract’s latest album, ARIZONA BABY. I’m a big fan of both Kevin’s work in BROCKHAMPTON and also all things Jack Antonoff, and with the two of them coming together on this album is something I was sure to love.

And hell, that’s correct - I was really blown away by this record. Kevin’s songwriting is something I’ve really loved. It’s always felt brutally honest, and something he’d be telling his therapist rather than the entire world (although there’s a lyric that references not going to a therapist specifically, whoops). You feel like you’re hearing the raw thoughts going through his head, and I think that’s so powerful. I’ve felt that way on many BROCKHAMPTON songs, and this album didn’t dissapoint in that fashion either.

As expected, the production kicked ass. Most of the album was produced by Jack Antonoff and Romil Hemnani, who has production credits with BROCKHAMPTON as well. I read somewhere that Abstract asked Jack Antonoff to help produce it after hearing Lana Del Ray’s “Venice Bitch” and you can definitely tell. There’s small pockets that reminded me a lot of that song all over this record - little guitar runs with whatever effect gives it that soaring, grainy feel, live saxophone, and the 80s synth sounds that you can hear in Bleachers songs constantly. Everything was so interesting and multi-layered, and even though I was mostly drawn in by the lyrics and songwriting, the productions paired perfectly with those.

My only minor nitpick was that sometimes I thought the production sounded too much like “Venice Bitch”. I don’t think this was a big enough reason to knock the album all that much, but I definitely had a few moments where I thought “huh, he really did like Venice Bitch a whole lot”.

Other than that super minor thing, this was a super standout album. Not as many bangers as your average BROCKHAMPTON album, but the writing and storytelling was excellent, and made for a great listen. This will probably be on repeat all year.

Score: 9.5/10

Favorite Tracks: Joyride, Baby Boy, Peach

One Recommendation: Joyride