Thundercat

His 2017 celebration, the smooth and funky Drunk should not obscure the fact that Stephen Bruner aka Thundercat had already been working his bass for quite a few years before then. The lit, unfiltered Californian has long been freelancing but also playing with Suicidal Tendencies, Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington since the early 2000s. Always at home nestled between the seventies jazz fusion of George Duke & Co. and the wild funk of George Clinton's P-Funk galaxy to which he lends exuberance and a pop vision, on It Is What It Is Thundercat pursues his pluralistic goove orgies, smoky soul flirting with jazz rock and light funk. Still with Brainfeeder, the Flying Lotus label that makes an appearance on Dragonball Durag, with this fourth solo album he unfurls his true-false nonchalance baked together with chloroformed groove and afro-futurism. As so often with this fan of Kenshiro and Mortal Kombat, the compositions do not always take the form of traditional songs. As in a dream, realistic passages are overpowered by the surreal. And his high-pitched voice amplifies this improbable hedonistic feel... This time, Thundercat has invited Steve Arrington's seventies funk band Slave and Steve Lacy of The Internet for a sensual ballad (Black Qualls); Lil B and Ty Dolla $ign for a touching tribute to Mac Miller (Fair Chance ); not to mention Childish Gambino, drummer Louis Cole and comedian Zack Fox. We still feel the powerful influence of George Duke (one of his idols whose For Love (I Come Your Friend) he covered his 2011 album The Golden Age of Apocalypse ) as well as that of Californian soft rock on this endearing album which is soothing like a bubble bath... © Marc Zisman/ Qobuz