The rapper looks back on his sixth studio album – and at the same time forward.
Casper combines the familiar melancholic mood of optimism with new musical facets. The minimalism in the beats may be reminiscent of HINTERLAND, released in 2013. But that’s deceptive: other producers were at work this time, including BN and Nilly. It seems important to the Berliner to look in the rearview mirror: “So we are kids in the hinterland,” it says in “wrong time, wrong place”. At the same time, like its predecessor, EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURT, Casper reveals intimate feelings and thoughts.
The Bielefeld native’s album starts with a gentle, melodic intro: no singing, no rap, just a folk-like flow, accompanied by delicate guitar plucking. With “real from below/ zoé freestyle” this mood is initially continued and supplemented by subtle piano inserts until what generally defines hip-hop gains the upper hand again with a dominant bass and ticking hi-hats.
ONLY LOVE, ALWAYS is about old love stories, about throbbing thoughts and hurdles of a bygone era, which gives the album the familiar Casper-typical melancholy. It does get a little poppier here and there, but it’s not pop that characterizes Casper’s new work, but rather a thoughtful flow. So the album ends the way he started it: with quiet, gentle melodies, almost sad, and rap can sometimes take a back seat.