Many of you may not have heard of the genius named Thundercat. Well, Karthik and I are huge fans of him.
Thundercat is a producer who infuses elements of multiple genres into a wonderful array of musical sounds onto his tracks. He was born into a family of musicians, so it was only natural he played the bass at a very young age. His first major recognition was in 2010 by Flying Lotus where he worked on Cosmogramma. He provided his vocals for two of the tracks and was the bassist for eight tracks. Thundercat then released his first solo project The Golden Age of Apocalypse in 2011. That same year, he again worked with Flying Lotus on his album Until the Quiet Comes, and again in 2014 when Flying Lotus put out You're Dead. The two work under the same label, so many collaborations between the two visionaries was inevitable. Thundercat released his second album Apocalypse in 2013, with Flying Lotus again putting in major contributions.
Thundercat saw his career get a boost from the release of To Pimp a Butterfly and The Epic by saxophonist Kamasi Washington. He produced the unreleased and untitled song on the last episode of The Colbert Report which was preformed by Kendrick Lamar himself. Of course, it never made it to the album for a reason no one knows, but it was still a beautiful track. He and Flying Lotus co-produced track one, Wesley's Theory, on TPAB, and Thundercat again collaborated with Kendrick on "These Walls", "Hood Politics", and "Complexion (A Zulu Love)".
Three months later, he released his third project, The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam. It is hard to capture one's mind in just a six track, sixteen minute EP, but this album does just that.
It opens with "Hard Times", which reminded me of a slowed down, re-fixed, and ethereal version of "These Walls", which he produced. He is able to successfully mask the sad and depressing lyrics with an essentially hopeful and joyful sound. In only 73 seconds, this track is able to set the tone for the rest of the album. His dreamy vocals can be heard faintly ringing throughout the EP.
"Hard Times" is followed up by "Song for the Dead" which I believe tries to invoke the feeling of your own demise by soothing you to sleep. He opens the song by saying "Close your eyes/Past your head/You are dead", At about the 1:42 mark,
The third track, "Them Changes", which features Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington, seems like the odd one out on the EP. It still flows nicely, but in more aspects than one, it is quite different. For starters, it's bass sounds like it's from the 70s, which was then infused with a disco sound. The vocals on this track aren't like any other; it can be clearly heard. This track samples the same drum routine as The Isley Brothers' "Footsteps in the Dark", but I think it also closely resembles Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". The bass of "Them Changes" slows down the one of "Higher Ground" and adds MORE bass (well he is a bassist). This can easily be considered my favorite track.
It then leads into a bass heavy track called "Lone Wolf Club" which also features Flying Lotus. He dedicates this track to single parents, saying that they can relate to being a "Lone Wolf". This is followed by the 43 second instrumental, "That Moment", which also features Flying Lotus.
He closes out the EP with "Where the Giants Roam / Field of the Nephilim" which focuses on the theme of the visualization of love. He talks about how he can "feel your heart around me" and how it is "way too real, how it feels". His dreamy vocals fill this brilliant instrumental once again and finishes the piece with a keyboard arpeggio.
Thundercat is able to express the underlying themes of love and death with his lyrics, but makes the two abstract feelings more appealing with the legato flux he provides. This riveting, sixteen minute composition is held very highly in my regards and earns my commendations.
I rate it an 8.6/10.
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