#24
Thundercat
Drunk
(Brainfeeder)
When drunk, my conversations tend to leap wildly from subject to subject. Anecdotes, opinions, jokes and rants all tumble into one another. To me, my ramblings make coherent sense, but others may find my theme-hopping a confusing experience.
I think about this as I listen to Drunk - Thundercat's third solo album. There's funk, soul, jazz, changing time signatures, humour, sadness, some 'meowing' (A Fan's Mail), and a yawn (Captain Stupido). And there are 23 tracks in just over 50 minutes... like a drunken conversation, some have found it all a bit disorienting but it makes gorgeous sense to me.
Even the guest list looks a like it was dreamt up over a few drinks. Kendrick Lamar takes the sad breakup ballad Walk on By and turns it into a reflection on the criminal behaviour that he observed whilst growing up. Elsewhere, Wiz Khalifa more or less owns the hedonistic Drink Dat and Pharrell reflects on racial tension on The Turn Down.
But the real surprise is the single Show You The Way featuring Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald, singers that may be dismissed as risible dad rock artists from a bygone era. But their luscious harmonies are delightful, making the song one of the sweetest musical highlights of the year.
Thundercat's virtuso bass playing is evident throughout all of 'Drunk', most notably on the frantic jazz of Uh Uh and the delirious Blackkk. His lyrical observations meanwhile can be genuinely amusing. Frustrated by our reliance on technology, he wryly wonders 'Where would we be if we couldn't tweet our thoughts?' before drunkenly losing his phone on Bus in These Streets.
He's even amusing when being dumped: 'I'd rather play Mortal Kombat' he announces on the standout Friendzone, before concluding 'I'm better off by myself, loving you is bad for my health.' It's all delivered over a soundtrack of bass and synthesizers that give it, like most of the album, a retro-eighties groove.
Whatever genres Thundercat is dabbling with, whatever his concerns or his impressive guest list, he manages to bring all of the ingredients together to create one mellow and cohesive whole. Drunk is an ambitious album, drink it all in!
View/Listen to the entire playlist on YouTube here
