Thundercat's not shy about wanting to be eclectic, but rather excited by the thought… which is, among fans, a common displeasure with Thundercat. He seems to be so excited he doesn’t really focus and just wants to do everything. Which is great to have in a friend (at least for me), but producing, writing and playing bass throughout a full-length album, it can turn into a… into what people perceive Stephen’s discography to be, I guess, lol.
On Drunk – one of the first 2017 albums I actually physically purchased – Thundercat takes all of this energy he has, and, in my opinion, in the form of an understated masterpiece, channels it into the loose concept of just getting drunk. That’s what this album aims to be about, and with its’ hyperactive moments, slow and (with bass-assistance) atmospheric moments, it finds a balance and a believable personality
One of the best things about Drunk is that it comes out so naturally, and I don’t even mean just the lyrics. Even the unapologetic hyper bass-parts scattered across the tracklisting seem really seamless.
There’s also the fact that I have drank beers alone on a Friday night to this record, a week or so later than it was released in February. Once you experience the match of those two things, you get this album. It’s pacing, no matter how scattershot at-parts when looked at with sober ears, becomes fucking ace. It’s in perfect alignment with the sensation of me being drunk by myself and just going over stuff in my mind.
Take these things, the strong personality, the conceptual (sometimes) brilliance, and pair them with three great singles (Show You the Way, Friend Zone & Bus in These Streets), and an album that on-paper – with 23 tracks, and a lot of haphazardness – too ambitious for its’ own good… somehow becomes the greatest R&B album of the year.
By: DukeOjala