Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
On the follow-up to his Grammy-winning It Is What It Is, Thundercat keeps building out his vast collaborative network and makes a certain key connection. In addition to longtime associates like Flying Lotus and Taylor Graves, six featured guests, and a Was (Not Was)-like motley assortment of other contributors -- Gerald Albright, Beck, Haley Joel Osment, etc. -- there's Greg Kurstin, a certified hitmaker with Beck, Adele, Maren Morris, and Foo Fighters among his clientele. While Thundercat and Kurstin might seem like an odd pair, they share a deep background in the L.A. jazz scene and worked together on Gorillaz' "Cracker Island." Containing nine songs made with Kurstin, Distracted is hardly a pop bid, though it's certainly Thundercat's most refined synthesis of fusion, funk, smooth soul, and soft rock. There's also a kind of narrative arc that progresses from relationship troubles, self-flagellation, and c'est la vie gaiety to romantic contentment -- "You're my Uhura, I'm your starship trooper" is the point where Thundercat's falsetto shines brightest -- before it slips away and swings back to the messy stuff. The bittersweet "I Wish I Didn't Waste Your Time," whomping Channel Tres collaboration "This Thing We Call Love," and crystalline Willow duet "ThunderWave" are among the songs that were finely crafted with Kurstin, who also helped finish "She Knows Too Much," a free-spirited number Thundercat and Mac Miller started working on during the post-Drunk era. The other six numbers comfortably commingle. Long-lead single "No More Lies," featuring Tame Impala, almost vies with "Them Changes" for Thundercat's best deceptively-chill funk jam. "What Is Left to Say," one of two ballads shaped with the Lemon Twigs, lands somewhere between 10cc and Burt Bacharach, though not even the former dealt out philosophical quips on the level of "Feelings are like children in a car/You can't put them in the trunk/But let them drive [and] you won't go far." Oscillation between offbeat humor and profound distress characterizes this album almost as much as it does Apocalypse and It Is What It Is. It's most evident here in the way the LP begins and ends. "Candlelight," the gentle and swirling introduction, is a dedication to Meghan Stabile, a highly regarded promoter who died by suicide in 2022. Going by its forlorn title and tone, the closing "You Left Without Saying Goodbye" would seem to be in a similar mode, but it sees Thundercat "overwhelmed," "overworked," and "underpaid," trying to center himself while concluding that he could supplement his income by providing online content to foot fetishists. He's still finding joy inside the pain, supplying the high notes with that ethereal contratenor and the low end with those sinuous basslines. - Andy Kellman, All Music
Tracklist
1. Candlelight (02:35)
2. No More Lies (feat. Tame Impala) (05:27)
3. She Knows Too Much (feat. Mac Miller) (03:33)
4. I Did This To Myself (feat. Lil Yachty & Flying Lotus) (02:30)
5. Funny Friends (feat. A$AP Rocky) (02:35)
6. What Is Left To Say (feat. The Lemon Twigs) (03:39)
7. I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time (02:44)
8. Anakin Learns His Fate (03:22)
9. Walking on the Moon (03:25)
10. This Thing We Call Love (feat. Channel Tres) (03:15)
11. ThunderWave (feat. Willow) (03:14)
12. Pozole (02:40)
13. A.D.D. Through the Roof (03:36)
14. Great Americans (02:13)
15. You Left Without Saying Goodbye (01:54)
Cat no: BF165N
On the follow-up to his Grammy-winning It Is What It Is, Thundercat keeps building out his vast collaborative network and makes a certain key connection. In addition to longtime associates like Flying Lotus and Taylor Graves, six featured guests, and a Was (Not Was)-like motley assortment of other contributors -- Gerald Albright, Beck, Haley Joel Osment, etc. -- there's Greg Kurstin, a certified hitmaker with Beck, Adele, Maren Morris, and Foo Fighters among his clientele. While Thundercat and Kurstin might seem like an odd pair, they share a deep background in the L.A. jazz scene and worked together on Gorillaz' "Cracker Island." Containing nine songs made with Kurstin, Distracted is hardly a pop bid, though it's certainly Thundercat's most refined synthesis of fusion, funk, smooth soul, and soft rock. There's also a kind of narrative arc that progresses from relationship troubles, self-flagellation, and c'est la vie gaiety to romantic contentment -- "You're my Uhura, I'm your starship trooper" is the point where Thundercat's falsetto shines brightest -- before it slips away and swings back to the messy stuff. The bittersweet "I Wish I Didn't Waste Your Time," whomping Channel Tres collaboration "This Thing We Call Love," and crystalline Willow duet "ThunderWave" are among the songs that were finely crafted with Kurstin, who also helped finish "She Knows Too Much," a free-spirited number Thundercat and Mac Miller started working on during the post-Drunk era. The other six numbers comfortably commingle. Long-lead single "No More Lies," featuring Tame Impala, almost vies with "Them Changes" for Thundercat's best deceptively-chill funk jam. "What Is Left to Say," one of two ballads shaped with the Lemon Twigs, lands somewhere between 10cc and Burt Bacharach, though not even the former dealt out philosophical quips on the level of "Feelings are like children in a car/You can't put them in the trunk/But let them drive [and] you won't go far." Oscillation between offbeat humor and profound distress characterizes this album almost as much as it does Apocalypse and It Is What It Is. It's most evident here in the way the LP begins and ends. "Candlelight," the gentle and swirling introduction, is a dedication to Meghan Stabile, a highly regarded promoter who died by suicide in 2022. Going by its forlorn title and tone, the closing "You Left Without Saying Goodbye" would seem to be in a similar mode, but it sees Thundercat "overwhelmed," "overworked," and "underpaid," trying to center himself while concluding that he could supplement his income by providing online content to foot fetishists. He's still finding joy inside the pain, supplying the high notes with that ethereal contratenor and the low end with those sinuous basslines. - Andy Kellman, All Music
Tracklist
1. Candlelight (02:35)
2. No More Lies (feat. Tame Impala) (05:27)
3. She Knows Too Much (feat. Mac Miller) (03:33)
4. I Did This To Myself (feat. Lil Yachty & Flying Lotus) (02:30)
5. Funny Friends (feat. A$AP Rocky) (02:35)
6. What Is Left To Say (feat. The Lemon Twigs) (03:39)
7. I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time (02:44)
8. Anakin Learns His Fate (03:22)
9. Walking on the Moon (03:25)
10. This Thing We Call Love (feat. Channel Tres) (03:15)
11. ThunderWave (feat. Willow) (03:14)
12. Pozole (02:40)
13. A.D.D. Through the Roof (03:36)
14. Great Americans (02:13)
15. You Left Without Saying Goodbye (01:54)
Cat no: BF165N
