Hippo Campus Names “Flood” Their Best Album Ever
If getting older isn’t enough to show the newfound sophistication of the members of Hippo Campus, then Flood will help fill in the gaps.
Since the announcement of Flood, Hippo Campus’ fourth full-length album, the Minnesota-born indie rock band has been calling it their best album ever. Together, Jake Luppen (vocals), Nathan Stocker (guitar), Whistler Allen (drums), Zach Sutton (bass) and DeCarlo Jackson (trumpet) relearned how to understand each other not just as musicians, but as friends and as individuals. To this group, Flood is more than just a record; it marks a period of rebirth for Hippo Campus.
In the early days of Flood, Hippo Campus had over 100 songs written with their fourth album in mind. However, in a split second, they surrendered five years of lyricism and decided to start from scratch. The group went back to their roots in order to find the music they truly loved to create and with the help of producers and friends Caleb Wright (Charly Bliss, Samia) and Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), slowly but surely, their best album of all time would be born. Sutton confessed that he wants Flood to be an “honest” reflection of “dudes turning 30.” Further, the band shared: “‘Flood’ is marked by sharp lyrics and groovy riffs that borrow from psychedelia, folk, and more accessible pop music. But the difference between ‘Flood’ and [our] first three albums is how grown-up it sounds.”
The first look at Flood came in April of 2024 with their first single of the year, “Everything At Once.” A few months later, “Tooth Fairy” was released, followed by “Paranoid,” which accompanied the announcement of the LP, and finally, “Forget It” held fans over until Flood’s official release. These four tracks were all Hippo fans knew for months, only giving a glimpse into what listeners could expect with the full tracklist.
The band was still busy during this time, forgoing a traditional summer tour schedule and instead made appearances at large-scale festivals like Governors Ball, Hinterland, Lollapalooza and more. It wasn’t until September 15, five days before the album’s official release, that Hippo Campus debuted Flood’s tracklist to a sold-out crowd at the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Songs like “Prayer Man,” “Fences,” and “Forget It” were played by this supergroup for the very first time, accompanied by a double encore which featured fan-favorites “Bang Bang,” “Poems,” and “Buttercup.”
Flood is an album that places a heavy emphasis on its lyrics rather than its musical production. Still, the album’s sound is sophisticated and comprehensive, proving that the isolation of their two-week recording getaway made due on its intention of transforming the group’s vision for their fourth album.
“Prayer Man” solemnly kicks off Flood. Perhaps one of their more vulnerable tracks, listeners are met with Luppen as he cries for help: “Tried the knots of rosary / never got the thing to work.” Whether literally or figuratively, some kind of divine intervention is being sought out to assist the singer with his challenges. “Fences” is another song that demonstrates Hippo’s newfound vulnerability; they sing, “I keep looking out for something that I’ll never find / But my fences aren’t too high / So why’s it always greener on the other side?” It’s a painful human reaction to want something we can’t have, so the songs asks why can’t we stop ourselves when these feelings arise? “Everything At Once,” “Flood” and “Corduroy” continue in the same sentiment. Listeners can expect to experience feelings of longing, isolation and melancholy met with pensive melodies and thoughtful guitar progressions throughout the first half of this album.
“Slipping Away” provides a quick turn into the more upbeat portion of Flood. While vulnerability is still present, it’s accompanied with the action of rebirth that we’ve been hearing so much about. “Brand New” is a perfect example of this, with lyrics, “Tore me down so I can build back up again / Got you out of my mind / And I’m feeling brand new.” Circling back to the impact of lyricism, there is an extensive amount of metaphors hidden in the many tracks of Flood. “Tooth Fairy” states, “Lost my teeth in a dream that I had / White dental floss in the palm of my hand.” Dreaming about losing your teeth is understood to symbolize the loss of something or someone important in your life. Themes of loss and recovery continue as Madman starts with “I’ve got nothing to lose,” contradicting the point of view experienced in the previous track.
The last four tracks of Flood – “Madman,” “Forget It,” “Closer” and “I Got Time” – provide listeners with the happy conclusion we’ve all been waiting and hoping for. It’s hard to tell if this closure is the ending that us as listeners needed or if this is exactly what the band was looking for in order to continue their lives as musicians. “I Got Time” was appropriately chosen as the final track as it not only reflects on the band’s past but appreciates everything they went through to get them to this point. In a world that is constantly calling on artists for more, Hippo Campus uses “I Got Time” as a way to set their own boundaries. The members of this band are young and have exciting lives ahead of them; why should they be pressured into rushing to release only semi-good music? If getting older isn’t enough to show the newfound sophistication of the members of Hippo Campus, then Flood will help fill in the gaps.
With Flood finally out in its entirety, Hippo Campus are gearing up for a busy end to 2024 and already have a more than 30-date tour scheduled for North America in 2025. Artists Petey, Mei Semones and Hotline TNT will support Hippo Campus on select dates starting in January and running through the end of May. We imagine that this tour is scheduled to end just before the busy summer festival season, where Hippo Campus are sure to make many more appearances.
In starting from square one, Hippo Campus have completely rewritten the history of the group and are setting themselves up for their most successful year ever. The band they were over the last decade has garnered many accolades, but has also faced just as many trials and tribulations. With their busy schedule, these five seem to feel they began to lose sight of who they are and what they stand for. But Hippo Campus realized life is too short to make music solely for the exchange of streams and income. Music as impactful as the records that Luppen, Stocker, Allen, Sutton, and Jackson put into the world also need to make an impact on the musicians who created it.