Rich, deep, squelchy grooves and high falsetto in the distinctively funky-jazz-soul-afrofuturistic-cosmic-rock return of the outstanding Los Angeles bass player (aka Stephen Lee Bruner) with his first LP for six years, and an impressive array of collaborators, including Mac Miller, Tame Impala, Flying Lotus, A$AP Rocky, and The Lemon Twigs. While that smooth blend of sound is the heart of this album, thematically, as indicated by the title there’s also scepticism of technological “progress,” especially the way it’s narrowed our collective imagination instead of expanding it. Within this release, Thundercat jokes about Star Trek and childhood dreams of space travel, then pivots to the anticlimax of reality: drones without lasers, phones that only upgrade cameras, innovation reduced to spying and access. See for example, the oddball melody of the soul funk number Anakin Learns His Fate: “This monster that you've / painted in your mind sounds amazing/ Controlling how you feel is not my job . This mask is just for you / Don't tell me that you have the high ground”. The sense of disappointment isn’t just about gadgets; it’s about what we were promised versus what we ended up with, and technology detracts from human relationships. So there’s plenty of human soul here, in more ways than one. Thundercat is clearly very at ease as a collaborator, many of his guests also co-producing alongside his chief superproducer Greg Kurstin. On the shimmering No More Lies, joined by Tame Impala, aka Kevin Parker, there’s that synth sheen in a song capturing a contradiction about tech using a metaphor of self-driving cars: “We're gonna lose control of the wheel /So put your seatbelt on, I think we're about to crash/ In a world of pain/ There's so much work to do.” One of the highlights, She Knows Too Much, featuring rap by Mac Miller has a fabulous funk groove. I Did This To Myself with Lil Yachty jumps between a wriggly bassline and lush soul funk. What Is Left To Say captures a classic 70s soul rock-pop with the distinctive input of The Lemon Twigs. I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time has a lush, intricate sound with a very strange video. The latter part of the album is filled with experimental sounds that mark Thundercat as an innovative not afraid to cross-pollinate in noodly but smooth blends, such as on the squelchy Great Americans, an eccentric number with a gentle clip-clop rhythm, about mental isolation, dysfunction and talking to his cat: “Wake up, burnt out, start the day in flames / Is it because I didn't text you back? Cat bring (Meow, meow) / Keep sending me mixed signals.” Always different, it’ a delight to see him out there. Out on Brainfeeder.
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