“Are we gonna die?” – it’s a stark query to start out with, however ‘Bando Stone and The New World’ is a dying of types. On his fifth and last musical enterprise as Infantile Gambino, the iconoclast Donald Glover bids farewell to the once-wandering persona he created 19 years in the past after not discovering music “fulfilling”.
Gambino has explored varied musical types all through his profession. His early albums ‘Camp’ (2011) and ‘As a result of The Web’ (2013) launched him as an eccentric backpack rapper, whereas ‘Awaken, My Love!’ (2016) and ‘Atavista’ (2024) – the expanded model of his 2020 self-leaked undertaking ‘3.15.20’ – showcase his evolution right into a world-building experimentalist.
The album – which will even double because the soundtrack to Glover’s upcoming dystopian survival film of the identical identify – calls again to many of those factors from his previous work. It’s stuffed with cinematic interludes that recall to mind ‘As a result of The Web’, whereas ‘Survive’ seems like a radio-worthy leftover from ‘Atavista’ and ‘Steps Seaside’ has the identical dreaminess as his ‘Kauai’ mixtape.
Even on ‘Yoshinoya’, the disruptor brings us again to the 2010s by rapping over an evocative experimental beat paying homage to Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt. At first, Gambino allegedly weapons for Drake, telling the 6God to “keep the place you at, alleged to, boy” in his signature laid-back stream earlier than issuing a “code crimson for previous heads who by no means appreciated my brief shorts and PRO-Keds”. Even in his last kind, Gambino continues to be hyper-aware of the critics and proudly sticks his center finger up at them, simply as he did again in his 2011 debut single ‘Bonfire’.
Though you may draw parallels to the opposite variations of Infantile Gambino, ‘Bando Stone…’ is under no circumstances a nostalgic feat. In addition to trying again, the star additionally strikes ahead. Lyrically, the once-quirky oddball has matured into a person who touches on themes reminiscent of fatherhood, love, religion and extra, whereas his sonic repertoire will get a contemporary enlargement, too.
‘Lithonia’ sees him attempt his hand at a mini rock opera, injecting it with the same grungy angst as Radiohead’s seminal 1993 hit ‘Creep’. ‘Obtained To Be’ is drastically completely different, fooling us into believing it’ll take the type of a melodic home anthem earlier than ear-shattering synths blare by way of your audio system throughout this frenetic, Prodigy-sampling Atlanta membership tribute. Glover even reverts to his previous craving methods on ‘Actual Love’ – a feel-good pick-me-up the place he sings about desirous to “be somebody that you would be able to rely on” and “be every little thing that you just needed [him] to be” in a breathy increased register that conveys a captivating innocence.
With the assistance of Afro-fusion famous person Amaarae, R&B pioneer Jorja Smith, assured spitter Flo Milli and even his son Legend on his final musical hurrah, Glover has made a document as otherworldly as his different outings. But, ‘Bando Stone and The New World’ stumbles barely – the place its sonic selection is thrilling, it lacks a transparent sense of cohesion or theme in comparison with his earlier work – making it a bittersweet farewell to the legend of Infantile Gambino.
Particulars
- Document label: RCA Information
- Launch date: July 19, 2024
