Thundercat is a 32 year old musician, singer/songwriter & producer from Los Angeles, California who emerged in the 2000s as the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies. He would subsequently sign to Brainfeeder Records & make his full-length debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse nearly a week before I started high school. He would follow it up with the sophomore effort Apocalypse a couple summers later & his debut extended play The Beyond / Where the Giants Grow a month succeeding my graduation due to the inclusion of his most lauded single “Them Changes”. His 3rd album however has been shaping up to be the most special entry in his entire catalog & some of the names involved further proved my point.

“Rabbit Ho” properly kicks things off singing about being bored & wanting to getting drunk out of boredom over a gloomy bassline as well as some somber keys whereas “Captain Stupido” co-produced by Flying Lotus describes monotony. “Uh Uh” comes through with a compositionally high-tempo jazz-funk interlude that seems taken from a Mario Kart game soundtrack while the lead single “Bus in These Streets” sings about technology in a very intriguing way fusing neo-soul, psychedelic soul & hypnagogic pop. 

A sequel to “Tron Song” off Apocalypse called “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song II)” & although the songwriting is just as repetitive as it was on the predecessor, I’d say the instrumental on this one’s a lot more funky. The next couple tracks “Lava Lamp” & “Jethro” both explore the concept death, except the latter has more lively beat in contrast to “Lava Lamp”‘ having a dreamier instrumental courtesy of Sounwave, but then “Show You the Way” featuring Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald after the “Day & Night” interlude combines neo-soul, smooth soul funktronica & yacht rock to sing about making the most out of life. 

“Walk on By” featuring Kendrick Lamar finds the 2 individually addressing the topic of loneliness & trying to right one’s wrongs while “Blackkk” tropically sings about walking into the light & the instrumental on here sounds pretty tropical. “Tokyo” reaches the halfway point with a fast-paced ode to the capital of Japan while “Jameel’s Space Ride” talks about being free over an uplifting beat gets the 2nd leg going by comparing his younger brother to 大江 錦太郎 from the comedic ゴールデンボーイanime series.

“Friend Zone” depicts himself as a gamer who doesn’t get laid making numerous reference blending neo-soul, syth-funk & funktronica for the 3rd & final single while “Them Changes” reappears with no complaints since it’s easily the best song he’s ever made. “Where I’m Going” embraces the funktronica influences a bit heavier singing about doing fine even if he’s getting weak while “Drink Dat” lets Wiz Khalifa handle the verses, spaciously rapping about this party girl.

As for “Inferno”, we have Thundercat over a funky psychedelic soul beat singing about going insane while “3AM” after the 26 second “I’m Crazy” intermission ends the trilogy split into it’s own individual portions by singing about the streets calling him. The title track intoxicatingly describes getting wasted while “The Turn Down” featuring Pharrell takes a more conscious approach lyrically. “DUI” reprises the same melody “Rabbit Ho” used starting his drinking anew while “Hi” by Mac Miller talks about several events possibly occurring in our lifetime.

The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam was said to be a prelude to Drunk & considering how much he artistically stepped up throughout that EP, it had me hoping he’d surpass both The Golden Age of Apocalypse & Apocalypse as much as I enjoyed those LPs during my adolescence. Lo & behold: He gives us the most cohesive offering in his career & an essential within the Brainfeeder catalog. FlyLo helps him expand the neo-soul direction it’s predecessor went for sprinkling elements of psychedelic soul, progressive soul, funk, funktronica, acid jazz, jazz fusion, neo-psychedelia, alternative R&B & yacht rock along the way for a trip inside of the former Suicidal Tendencies bassist’s humorous yet dark mind.

Score: 4.5/5