Sprouted - Ganja White Night

"Sprouted" is the latest addition to Ganja White Night's ever-expanding catalogue of albums, and the prominence of wobble bass in it continues.

I can say with near certainty that Ganja White Night had an absolute blast concocting this project. With tracks like "Magic Frog" or "We Run Sound" that are such fun listening experiences in their own right, "Sprouted" wobbles through its tracklist like a stoner after a dubstep show. Ganja White Night's self-proclaimed 'wobble bass' is prevalent throughout and it sure gives flair to this record — wobbly dubstep is always nice to have — as a foundation for all the wacky basswork Ganja White Night orchestrates. It's not just them orchestrating, though, but the stacked collaborator list they bring in, ranging from dubstep giants Excision and Wooli, to underground bass legends Mr. Bill and Eliminate, to renowned grime rappers P Money and PAV4N. And this collaborator list proves to be rather menacing, but Ganja White Night keep a hold on things quite nicely. Their thick basswork and wonky stylistics always shine through, and the strong hip-hop influences run free to interact with the heavier dubstep production in a way which not many producers that attempt this fusion can achieve. In fact, the hip-hop and reggae vocals add a bonus flair on top of Ganja White Night's wobble bass that cannot be understated. Their contribution to the pure unfiltered energy of "Sprouted" is essential to its success, particularly in the first half, with practically every featured vocalist establishing their own little cranny in each track, always preceded by weirdly cinematic breakdowns and always followed up with grimy sound design and wonky lead melodies. Whilst some of the mixdowns are a little too thick for my liking, "Sprouted" thrives off the enthusiasm it generates in its first half, only to make way for a more alternative, lower-energy back half — a switch which yields some great tracks, in all honestly, but doesn't quite feel right. Branching out into other genres like liquid drum n bass may support the genre diversity of the record, but it doesn't help its case as, well, a holistic record. And yes, to reiterate, some of the best tracks of the album come from this back half, namely "Abyss", but it doesn't quite feel justified as a structural decision, with no clear narrative to back it up.

With this awkward structural decision stacked on top of a seemingly abject lack of cohesion — oftentimes "Sprouted" caters to the ravegoer rather than the album listener, and much of the album ends up somewhat feeling like filler — and the aforementioned questionable mixdowns many of the tracks suffer from — being rather harsh, overblown, or just generally far too thick — I cannot in good faith call "Sprouted" a categorically brilliant project. Still, it's a blast.