Distracted

On his previous album, 2020’s <i>It Is What It Is</i>, Thundercat contemplated grief over dense jazz-funk grooves, inspired by the loss of his close friend and collaborator Mac Miller. Six years later, the virtuoso bassist and bandleader is still in the thick of it. On <i>Distracted</i>, Thundercat captures the addled feeling of contemporary overstimulation and repurposes it for creative fuel. “Wake up, burnt out/Start the day in flames,” he sings on “Great Americans,” overthinking texts and conversing with his cats. Despite some swooning (“ThunderWave,” a deep-sea soul epic with WILLOW, or the space-funk love song “Walking on the Moon”), relationships are preludes to heartache and confusion on “No More Lies,” a Tame Impala collab for damaged drifters, and “What Is Left to Say,” a bit of yacht rock existentialism with production from The Lemon Twigs. Nevertheless, Thundercat’s trademark dark humour prevails, as he ends “You Left Without Saying Goodbye” by considering a new side hustle (selling foot pics on OnlyFans). Additional guests include Flying Lotus, Lil Yachty, A$AP Rocky, and a previously unheard collaboration with Mac Miller.