HIPPO - New Normal (2023)

UK trio Hippo return with their first full length studio album, ‘New Normal’, releasing on April 14th 2023.

Hippo thrives in the hinterland between jazz and electronica. Bursting with buoyant melodies and the adrenal energy of a band stretching their shows to the edge of possibility, the trio continues to make a colossal sound far beyond what their three-piece stature should permit.

Following their 2019 release ‘Binary Diet’, praised across the leftfield including approval on WorldwideFM and BBC Radio, they took their music to acclaimed performances at The London Jazz Festival and Ronnie Scott’s.

Led by saxophonist and producer Doug Cave (Cousin Kula), the trio comprises noted members of the Bristol scene, all equally comfortable with the spontaneity of jazz and the expansive sound world of electronics. Assembling the music from a myriad of analogue synths and a sea of FX pedals, the compositions remain rooted with a strong melodic identity whilst bathed in a wild, raw and technicolor landscape.

The pause from the covid pandemic meant that ‘New Normal’ goes deeper than ever before. Whilst the world ground to a halt Hippo got to work, with late night jams over Zoom birthing the beefy compositions on the album. The songs tackle topics of global importance through to the comically ordinary: from a rallying cry against systemic greed on ‘Too Big to Fail’, through to a tongue in cheek ode to a suburban war with neighborhood cats on ‘Sustained Lemon Attack’.

The album is also the first from the trio to explore special guest collaborations. On up tempo scorcher ‘Honk!’ they teamed up fruitfully with UK trumpet heavyweight Gary Alesbook (Kasabian, Raphael Saadiq) , where the unison chatter of a blisteringly tight trumpet and sax horn combo punctuates a relentless synth bass groove. In a calmer moment on the record, ‘Lucky Charms’ is buoyed by the gorgeous lyricism and lush vocals of Gina Marie Tratt (Pocket Sun).

In short: saxophones, synthesisers and drums go in, Hippo comes out.

Personnel
Doug Cave - Saxophones, Synthesisers & Flute
Henry ‘Bin’ Binning - Synthesisers
Toby Perret - Drums & Percussion
Gary Alesbrook - Trumpet & Flugelhorn (on Honk!)
Gina Marie Tratt - Vocals (on Lucky Charms)