Headphones: Berhana Shoots For The Skies With HAN
Berhana
HAN opens in a dream-like state. The listener is transported to an airplane, which shares the same name of the album. The flight attendant provides details for the “trip”, that trip being the entirety of the album from start to finish. It’s a distinct callback to A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, where a tour guide opened the album and narrated the journey throughout.
This is Berhana’s first full body of work. His self-titled EP released in 2016 to critical acclaim, and one of the project’s breakout singles, “Grey Luh”, got a coveted placement on Donald Glover’s Atlanta. He’s been relatively quiet since, only releasing singles a few months before the release of HAN. Now that the album is out, it’s no question that Berhana has incredible potential, but a few creative decisions leave HAN a half-baked effort.
Other than A Tribe Called Quest, Berhana wears his influences on his sleeve. The funky production’s roots can be traced back to Japanese city pop and 80s disco. It’s no surprise, either; Berhana worked in a Japanese restaurant for three years during the release of his EP, where he learned both the language and culture of Japan. “I Been” leans into his Asian influence too; the song features prominent South Korean artist Crush, who performs so well one forgets he’s the featured artist. The majority of the album favors these upbeat genres, and it works to Berhana’s strengths. “Health Food” is perhaps the strongest track on the album; the bassline, chords, and percussion complement each other exceptionally, as Berhana croons about his unrequited desire for a girl.
Creatively, there’s a sizable amount of good and bad choices. First, the decision to have Pomo produce the entire album was a great pick. His production style caters to Berhana perfectly. It’s in a unique pocket of R&B, funk, pop, and grand instrumentation (listen to “I Wasn’t Told”) that Berhana’s breezy vocals pair well with. The central theme of being in an airplane only works to a certain extent, however. It feel transportive and thus more immersive, but the interludes start to wear down the experience halfway through. The flight attendant occupies 5 of the 14 tracks on the album, often narrating a segment two times in a three-track sequence. It halts any flow or cohesiveness the album previously had and bogs down the experience with voiceovers only semi-related to the context of the succeeding song. The interlude before “Lucky Strike”, for example, encourages passengers to smoke and remove smoke detectors. The song itself, however, is about Berhana feeling lost in life, lighting his lucky cigarette in hopes it’ll ease his stress. The two are related, but only slightly.
HAN is by no stretch a bad debut album, it’s actually quite good. The turbulent bass line at the end of “G2g” is reminiscent of Thundercat’s frantic and exciting Drunk, while “California” is one of the few songs that leaves more space for Berhana’s vocals to take center stage. The album is merely weakened by a few choice selections. Being a debut album, there should have been one or two more featured artists on the project. Releasing a debut album with little to no features can be extremely risky, as it decreases the likelihood of attracting new listeners. Listeners tend to be more inclined to try out a new artist if they’ve collaborated with someone they’re familiar with, so there’s a sense of comfortability. HAN could have benefitted from the cutting the interludes down, too, preferably in half so there was one at the beginning, middle, and end. Midnight Marauders’ narration only takes up one track on the album; the other voice overs take place at the end of actual songs. Berhana could have done the same but instead sacrificed tracks for narrations, ultimately taking up too much of the total play time (12%!) and hurting the overall sonic experience. It’s his rookie year, so mistakes are supposed to happen. Despite its drawbacks, HAN is worthy of a listen, maybe just skips the interludes to preserve some fluidity. Berhana’s hitting the road soon too, and tickets can be purchased here.
