Like many other kids in my generation, I discovered Thundercat through TikTok. His song “Them Changes” kicked off a COVID-era trend of people using fishbowl lenses on their phone cameras and recording videos of themselves marching to the beat. At the time, people were itching to jump into something creative and non-COVID-focused, and "Them Changes” gave them exactly that — it’s catchy and funky and an easy beat to follow. “Funny Thing” elicited a similar effect on audiences, inspiring fun dances and even appearing in a GAP commercial with Troye Sivan.
These are my basic impressions of Thundercat. Since then? I haven’t really been paying attention. Until now.
Distracted looks at several dichotomies: simplicity and complexion, imagination and reality. Thundercat explores themes of love, friendship, sensibility and identity through funk, streams-of-consciousness and sci-fi references like Star Wars and Star Trek.
The album starts with “Candlelight,” which features a breakout synthesizer solo that sounds like it would fit right in with Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion. It sets the tone for the rest of the songs: lyrics that could mean everything and nothing, with easy instrumentals that flow into expert musicality.
“She Knows Too Much” brings out Thundercat’s iconic bass motifs, and gets feet tapping and heads nodding. Mac Miller’s casual inflection works well with Thundercat’s falsettos as they both start to realize the love they seek may only want money in return.
“Funny Friends” seems inspired by Thundercat’s stint on Yo Gabba Gabbaland!, but gets at something deeper than the surface when A$AP Rocky makes his appearance. Rocky questions the idea of friendship and how easy it is for friends to disappear when you need them the most. He adds nuance to Thundercat’s lyrics; the meaning of “No, it’s not hand in hand / We’re funny friends in the end” morphs into something noncommittal.
Another notable collaborator is WILLOW, who recently released Petal Rock Black in February. Their song “ThunderWave” is crammed with waves and water sounds, as if it was recorded it at a beach. This track sticks out from the rest of the album with its aquatic metaphors and sound effects, and WILLOW and Thundercat’s voices braid together perfectly.
Thundercat finishes out the album by himself, with the last four songs exploring repetitive motifs and random thought processes alongside piano-strong contemplations of selfhood. "Great Americans" gets some quintessential "meows" in there, too.
Distracted is classic Thundercat. He’s not just the two songs that blew up on Tik Tok. He’s introspective, hypocritical, random and above all, a master bass player. I think it’s time I start digging into the rest of his discography.
