Musical genius Labrinth released his highly-anticipated sixth studio album Ends & Begins on April 28th. The album, which contains ten songs and is just under thirty minutes long, features Zendaya and Billie Eilish and allows the artist to showcase his lyrical storytelling abilities as well as his skills as a producer.
The album opens with the song “The Feels”, which introduces the love story and religious themes that are present throughout the rest of the album. In the song, Labrinth sings of being “touched by God” and how this encounter, combined with his newfound relationship, has made him feel like there’s “lightning…in [his] veins” and he’s “way up in the clouds”. Zendaya also sings on this track, and her voice adds softness and lightness that nicely complements Labrinth’s richer vocal sound. The combination of twinkling sounds in the background and echo-y orchestral violin gives the song an overall magical and cinematic vibe that allows listeners to feel as if they’re up in the clouds too.
The second song on the album, “Kill For Your Love” represents a sharp change in how the central relationship is described and explored. The sound of the song itself is more electric and powerful despite having a slower tempo, and while Labrinth continues to sing of his love for his new partner, he does so while also explaining the lengths to which he would go to keep this relationship, singing “I’ll go all animal to keep you next to me” and “I’ll kill for a little drop of your good love”. The joyful, electrifying love that was described in the previous song seems to have morphed into a more possessive kind of love, leaving listeners who are paying attention to the central narrative to wonder what will happen next.
While the third and fourth tracks of Ends & Begins return to more joyful and heartwarming descriptions of love, the fifth track on the album, “A Turn of Events” marks a shift in the central narrative and allows Labrinth to showcase his skills as a producer in this fully instrumental song. The song begins with ominous orchestral background music that’s reminiscent of a sci-fi movie trailer before whimsical electric trills are layered in. This musical experience, which reflects what the lyrics say about love on the earlier tracks, quickly transitions into a more awkward, melancholic, and slightly out-of-tune melody at the halfway point of the song, marking a distinct shift in the content and vibe of the album.
By the time listeners reach “Never Felt So Alone”, the highly-anticipated track featuring Billie Eilish, the tone of the album has dramatically changed to reflect the intense emotions surrounding heartbreak and betrayal. Both Labrinth and Eilish sing of intense loneliness, mental illness, and the use of alcohol as an escape from heartbreak, and Eilish’s lighter, more hazy vocals add a nice depth and sonic complexity to the track.

However, the storyline once again returns to lighter themes of love and contentment on the final tracks “Only Way Is Up”, “Power Couple”, and “Ends & Begins”. In “Only Way Is Up”, Labrinth reflects on his past relationship before picking himself back up and looking toward the future with determination. The music follows this lyrical progression, with the same slightly out-of-tune melody that was present in “A Turn of Events” progressively getting more motivating and uplifting. And while “Power Couple” does see a return to the “I’ll die for you” type of love, this time the lyrics focus more on the partnership and mutual commitment that’s present in this new relationship rather than the possessive or even entirely whimsical love that was explored on previous songs. The tone of this song is more uplifted, confident, and secure, and the music reflects this. Finally, in “Ends & Begins”, the title track of the album, Labrinth returns to the more tender and sweet love that was displayed on tracks like “Everything” and “Covering”. In the song, the artist returns to the religious themes that were present in the first track, singing about how love has been “reincarnated…like a brand new star” and has “come down from heaven”. The music behind these lyrics has a happy and uplifting tone, and with a final flourish of almost video-game-like sound effects, the album draws to a close on a happy and excited note.
While the overall sound of Ends & Begins isn’t that different from what Labrinth has produced in the past, the themes he explores are, as they mark a departure from his 2019 album Imagination & The Misfit Kid, which focused more heavily on money, success, and imagination. The attention to detail in Ends & Begins is also unlike anything else Labrinth has produced. Each song uses a curated blend of sound effects and underlying music to evoke the desired emotion and give listeners a specific experience, all of which is supplemented by a carefully crafted storyline and phenomenal features.

Rating: ★★★★

If you liked Ends & Begins, you might like M83 (artist), MGMT (artist), and Frank Ocean (artist).