Thundercat
IT IS WHAT IT IS
BRAINFEEDER
PARKER DAY
Following on in the deeply groovy footsteps of his 2017 breakthrough third album, Drunk, Stephen ‘Thundercat’ Bruner delivers another thrilling slab of surreal jazz-funk on new album, It Is What It Is. The zen bassmaster is once again surrounded by a serious bunch of collaborators, with Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, BADBADNOTGOOD and Louis Cole all making their mark; partner-in-crime Flying Lotus repeats the co-production duties. In the same vein as its game-changing predecessor, Thundercat uses the record as a semi-confessional canvas and as he, surprisingly succinctly, puts it: “This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that.” One of those losses was the death of his close friend and sonic ally Mac Miller, and the aftershock of grief is palpably present on many of the tracks, specifically the album’s opener Lost In Space and then again on its closing title track. The good times are celebrated as well, and Thundercat’s tongue, as ever, is nearly always located in close proximity to his cheek. Opening single Black Qualls is a criminally bouncy chunk of Prince-inflected retro-funk, while follow-up Dragonball Durag contains the improbably triumphant chat-up line: “I may be covered in cat hair/ but I still smell good”. One to use the next time you’re in Pets At Home? Probably not. Across its 15 tracks of joy and melancholy, It Is What It Is gives you a visitor’s pass to Thundercat’s unique world, and, boy, is it a ride.