Minnesota-based alternative pop group Hippo Campus released their second full-length album, Bambi, last month. 
Their sophomore album brings a new level of maturity to their discography. The band met in high school, graduating in 2013. The next year they released their first EP, Bashful Creatures. Five years later they’re headlining their own international tour. 
My favorite song on Bambi is “Golden.” It’s got the pop sound and dancetastic beat in the chorus that I can imagine has the crowd jumping in rhythm to at their shows. The lyrics are positive and self reflective making the listener want to better themselves in the same way as the songwriter. 
The first single was the album title track, “Bambi.” This song has got a wonderfully relaxed sound. The lyrics are honest and anyone who’s struggled with a sense of self worth can relate to this song. Actually, in that sense one can relate to every song on this album. 
Bambi brings the listener on a musical journey through the minds of these young people (I say as if I am not myself a young person). Starting with a song about mistakes, to apologizing, to the last track, “Passengers,” which reflects on past corrupted youth. 
When the album was released, the band wrote on Facebook “It’s the first record we’ve written about the present. The present that brings the questions we ask ourselves in the midst of change and growth. Love and fear. We forced ourselves to be vulnerable answering these questions. Embracing fully the things we FEEL even if that feeling is confusing or challenging.” 

If you missed seeing Hippo Campus when they played the Red Herring’s Super Big Block Party in September you can see them in St. Paul November 23 and 24.