The long awaited follow up to 2016’s vintage throwback album “Awaken, My Love” has been met with many mixed opinions. While 3.15.20 release was very out of the blue without prior announcements, it quickly became a talking point in a time when entertainment is few and far between. The album’s ascetic gives off the impression of drafts both in composition and production. In his video review, Anthony Fantano has described the album as “like untitled, unmastered but not preceded by one of the greatest musical statements of the decade.”. While the comparison to Kendrick Lamar’s follow up to To Pimp A Butterfly While I strongly stand by the opinion that there’s more this album offers in terms of variety, creativity, and showcase of Donald Glover’s talent.
The album opens up with a very ominous and in your face wash of “We are, we are” vocals. Upon first impressions alone, I’m indecisive on whether I should be confused or excited. Luckily, this odd opening is then followed by a subdued yet abrasive rap banger known as Algorhythm (hehe, get it). Glover drops some good rap flows like his early years with lyrics about a technology overthrowing human life. Fantano thought the lyrics were too self-serious, but I strongly disagree. There’s tongue and cheek word play and references to dancing sprinkled throughout. Time (ft. Ariana Grande) has many difrent directions and influences. Medium 808s, vintage synth pads, and a backing choir all fade in and out as the song progresses. Ariana sounds as great as ever. Vibrate cools us down with some chill falsetto singing and laid back instrumentals. The second half features 21 savage rapping a verse about his shooters and his girl (ya know, the typical 21 Savage stuff). It then adds with a clipping collage of vocal samples, 808s pushed to the front, synth lines spiraling out of control; It all cultivates into a beautiful mess. Speaking of which, the next track Beautiful lays down the Minneapolis sound thick. This track is very groovy with sassy vocal inflections, infectious hooks, and lot’s of charisma. Similar to how the previous Gambino record paid homage to the sound of the 70s, this track pays an homage to the sound of Prince. Sweet Thang continues trend of prince style vocals but has more emphasis on lush guitar, plucky harp synth, and ringy cash register drums. There seems to be a morphing into gospel style soul near the end of this piece as well as Childish Gambino fills our ears with aggressive ad libs. Warlords head dunks the listener into an industrial Death Grips like beat that takes every insane turn it possibly can. This is then followed By Little Foot, Big Foot which gives us a choppy soul guitar loop, some jumpy drum grooves, and an overall more light hearted tone. The outro surprises us with trap drums that cool down the energy as the next song subtle fades in. Why go to the party has lots of acappella vocals and slowy keeps progressing as we get the entrance of piano and more jazzy harmony (that vaguely reminds me Bill Wurtz’ youtube videos). This almost feels like a musical theater aria or something. The Feels Like Summer single has been floating around for a year prior to this album’s release, and to hear the song now during the corona virus outbreak is pretty gut wrenching. The Violence is an old school jam. The lyrics deal with the political environment of urban areas in America in regards to gun ownership and violence. The song feels like a truly feels like a proper followup to “Awaken, My Love” with it’s old school instrumentation, vintage production, and sentimental lyrics. The final track (Under the Sun) gives us some hard hitting rap verses (Fantano compared it to Anderson Paak) followed by a very soulful chorus of “There is love in every moment, under the sun. I did what I wanted to.”. This final swan song Glover leaves his record on gives me a feeling of optimism while struggling through the darkest of times.
While the album has no sign of direction, narrative, or consistency, that’s part of the appeal to me. It’s spastic nature gives me a huge amount of variety that resonates with my very chaotic being. Through a 50-minute experience I hear elements of Soul, RnB, Hip-Hop, Trap, Experimental Rap, and even musical theater. The combination of retro and contemporary influences makes for an accessible listen while also being of artistic merit. Is it Glover’s magnum opus, far from it. But at the very least, it’s the most representative entertainment in a period where everyone is socially trapped. To put it simply, the album is the escape from reality we all needed.