Thundercat has announced a new album, ‘Distracted’, which features collaborations with A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Lil Yachty, and the late Mac Miller.
The new record marks the first from the bassist and singer in six years, and is set to arrive via Brainfeeder on April 3. Visit here to pre-order.
Contributions across the new album come from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty, and the tracklist also includes a previously unreleased collaboration with the late Mac Miller, who was a close friend of Thundercat.
It also sees the artist work closely with a new creative partner, producer Greg Kurstin, who has worked with the likes of Adele, Paul McCartney, Sia, Beyoncé, and Beck, as well as enlist Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume), and The Lemon Twigs for additional production.
To celebrate the new announcement, Thundercat has shared the lead single from the album. ‘I Did This To Myself ft. Lil Yachty’.
Featuring additional production from longtime friend and collaborator Flying Lotus, the song captures the distinctive groove Thundercat has become famed for, and follows both him and Yachty as they plead for affection from someone who has no time for them.
According to a new press release, the theme of awkward, digitally-influenced situations captured in the single is carried through to the album as a whole, and leads to it sitting between the feeling of heartbreak in ‘It Is What It Is’ and the social commentary on ‘Drunk’.
“Sometimes you need to be distracted to focus in a different way,” Thundercat said. “Just enjoy it and have fun, and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward.”
On the tracklist, WILLOW joins him on ‘ThunderWave’, Channel Tres appears on ‘This Thing We Call Love’, and A$AP Rocky features on a track called ‘Funny Friends’.
Thundercat’s last album was the 2020 record ‘It Is What It Is’, which took home Best Progressive R&B Album at the 63rd Grammys. Since then, the musician has worked on collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Tame Impala, Gorillaz, Silk Sonic, Kaytranada, and Justice, and also ventured into the acting world with a role in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.
More recently, he joined Yo Gabba Gabba for a special performance at NPR’s Tiny Desk, and then appeared as a featured musical guest on the rebooted Yo Gabba Gabbaland for Apple TV+.
He has also got a UK and European tour coming up, which kicks off in March and includes a slot at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on March 25. Visit here for tickets.
Back in 2024, Thundercat spoke to NME as part of an In Conversation interview, and opened up about how he was already thinking about collaborations he could have for this forthcoming record.
“That’s one of the joys of what I do. I love the idea of collaborating with people, especially when it’s something that feels right,” he said “The [most intriguing] part for me is the unknown, that’s what makes it something special. It was the never-expected things in the past that meant the most.”
He also spoke about how sobriety was changing his outlook towards writing new material. “In certain respects, it feels like I had to learn to walk and talk again,” he explained. “It’s just different now, and I’m learning to vibe with who I am without it.”