Thundercat
★★★★
Apocalypse
NINJA TUNE. CD/DL/LP
Tenth anniversary reissue for bass virtuoso’s breakthrough.
While earlier releases confirmed the dizzying chops of this in-demand sessioneer (credits include Kamasi Washington, Mac Miller and Suicidal Tendencies), Stephen Bruner’s second full-length showcased his budding songwriting skills. His tempestuous futurist-fusion energy was tempered by downcast soulfulness and glimmers of the yacht rock songcraft that would flower on his sprawling 2007 masterpiece, Drunk. The finest songs here balance Bruner’s restless muso complexity and his feel for emotive chord changes – the questing, proggy Lotus And The Jondy, and Tron Song, a sublime devotional to his cat set to inscrutable time signatures. His capacity for both daffy playfulness and affecting pathos impresses, too, Apocalypse finding space for both Oh Sheit It’s X, which infectiously celebrates the rush of MDMA, and a closing suite contemplating death, penned in tribute to late musician friend Austin Peralta. As subsequent LPs would further emphasise, Thundercat contains multitudes.