Labrinth “Ends & Begins” Album Review

Ends & Begins

Labrinth

• Genre: Pop
• Date: 28 Apr, 2023
• Content: explicit
• Track(s): 10
• ℗ 2023 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment

The third album by British composer-singer-producer Labrinth is only 28 minutes long, yet it’s a mood overload. The darkly colored tunes about love and loneliness on the LP are filled with so much tension that it frequently feels as if they—and Labrinth himself—could fall apart at any moment. Labrinth’s heightened sense of drama was evident in his soundtracks for HBO’s Euphoria. In this context, his notion of love as a means of channeling pain can be exhausting. Labrinth is willing to follow love to the ends of the earth.

Album Cover Art

For the cover of his new album, Labrinth appears trapped in a transparent, rectangular glass tube with lights beaming over his head. It’s confusing because you can mistake that for a phoning booth, but the glass container looks suspended mid-air. Yet, somehow, Labrinth looks unperturbed, like someone who knows how it all plays out.

Tracks and Features

“The Feels,” featuring Euphoria star Zendaya, begins the album. Labrinth sings about being lost as a person and being lost in love. So, he and Zendaya dwell on that theme, telling us how much they are in their feelings and how “intoxicated” in love they are. Zendaya also gives the duet a unique touch with her charming voice. “Kill For Your Love” finds Labrinth longing for love from his lover. He sings about being enamored by her love and their intimate moments. Labrinth confesses his willingness to kill for a drop of her love if it comes to it.

Labrinth comes into the light of love in “Everything,” where he sings about his lover and how she changed his perspective on love. Labrinth admitted that he once believed love was a weakness until he met her. To Labrinth, money will never be worth the value of his woman, and he lets her know. Labrinth’s voice works pretty well over a chill instrumental like the one used for this song, which aided the singer in passing his message. In “Covering,” Labrinth welcomes us to his vulnerable side, which he doesn’t have a hard time with, and sings about a love so pure, a love that makes him safe. He says he feels protected in her “sacred embrace.” He uses an excellent play on words with his lyrics to help us understand his emotions.

Taking us into the next half of the project is “A Turn of Events,” which is a short instrumental interlude with the phrase, “I love you, too,” whispered repeatedly. From that, we enter “100 Miles An Hour,” in which Labrinth sings about his mind being stuck on his lover nonstop. But, he doesn’t stop at just thinking about her; he also lets her and everyone else it may concern know his feelings for her. Again, the song is not bad but turns bland after the first listen.

“Never Felt So Alone,” a lead single for the album featuring Billie Eilish, comes next. It’s a sad song, so Billie’s appearance comes clutch. They sing about the loneliness and gloom that followed the end of a romantic relationship over an equally somber instrumental. “Only Way Is Up” is a song of motivation for those struggling to make it out of the ruts they’ve been stuck in. This is a track with a message of hope. When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way is up, and Labrinth’s vocals concur with how he hits those high notes.

“Power Couple” sounds like something made for a scene in a drama series. In the song, he wards off the public from interfering with his love life. He also tries to ensure his lover gets the memo and does the same because people will always have some shit to say, especially about shit that doesn’t concern them.

The album ends with Labrinth telling us how the love he gets from his lover “Ends & Begins” him. The theme, delivery, and beat selection are similar to some previous tracks before this.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	TIME
1	The Feels	3:17
2	Kill For Your Love	3:11
3	Everything	2:16
4	Covering	3:13
5	A Turn of Events	1:53
6	100 Miles An Hour	3:01
7	Never Felt So Alone	2:40
8	Only Way Is Up	3:16
9	Power Couple	2:30
10	Ends & Begins	3:31

Album Theme

Love and the feelings associated with being in and out of it.

Production Credits

Alex Elliott, David Jones, FINNEAS, Fred again.. & Labrinth produced the album.

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