Stream: Thundercat, ‘Them Changes’

Andrew Veeder on June 23rd, 2015

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It’s been a hot minute since Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, put out his last album, 2013’s “Apocalypse,” but the genius bassist-singer-songwriter has kept busy, contributing heavily to Flying Lotus’ jazzy “You’re Dead,” Kendrick Lamar’s masterpiece “To Pimp a Butterfly” and Kamasi Washington’s epic “The Epic.” Now he’s back with a batch of solo material in the form of a six-track, 17-minute mini-album titled “The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam.” The first single “Them Changes,” co-produced with Flying Lotus, is a cheeky heartbreak song that kicks off with drums in the vein of the Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps in the Dark” / Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day,” before Thundercat’s tasty bassline funks the track right up as he sings, “Nobody move, there’s blood on the floor / And I can’t find my heart! / Where did it go? Did I leave it in the cold? / So please give it back, cause it’s not yours to take!” as pianist Dennis Hamm and saxophonist Kamasi Washington take it on home. The “mini-album” also features strings from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, co-production from FlyLo on two additional tracks, keys from Herbie Hancock and co-production from Mono/Poly.

||| Stream: “Them Changes”