Thundercat Announces “DRUNK” new Album ft. Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Wiz Khalifa, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins & more
Thundercat will release his third full-length studio album Drunk on February 24 via Brainfeeder. The album is a 23-track epic journey into the often hilarious, sometimes dark mind of the Grammy-winning singer/bassist and finds a few of his friends joining him along the way including: Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Wiz Khalifa, Kamasi Washington and Brainfeeder mastermind Flying Lotus. Drunk is the follow up to his widely praised 2015 mini album The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam, and features fan favorite tracks “Bus In These Streets” and “Them Changes.”
“Show You The Way” is the first single from Drunk, and the ballad features two of Thundercat’s heroes: iconic musicians Kenny Logginsand Michael McDonald. And how did this collaboration come to be? Thundercat mentioned his love of Loggins several times during his press tour for The Beyond (Dinner Party Download, Billboard), leading to an introduction via his keyboard player Dennis Hamm. He tells Red Bull Music Academy Daily, “These are guys that I’ve listened to and where I felt that I’ve learned that honesty in the music. Kenny Logginsis one of my favorite songwriters.” Loggins was the one that suggested bringing McDonald in on the track and, Thundercat adds, “I think one of the most beautiful moments of it was realizing how amazing Michael McDonald was. He would go through so many ideas and have so much to offer.”
Thundercat also notes, “That song to me is about going down the rabbit hole, taking you to another place… On the edge of dark, there’s the brightest light. It means a lot to me in the sense of… the experience that I’ve had growing up with friends and people that I’ve been around where it’s inviting them into where I come from emotionally. Sometimes it’s a pretty intense thing. The point is how weird things can get. I feel like it’s very funny that, in a way, of course Michael McDonald and Kenny would be there.” “Show You The Way” is available to stream / purchase. Listen Now
The album title, like the rest of the album, is meant to be both humorous and serious. “I’ve always tried to hold true to what Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus told me: It has to come from an honest place. I feel like it’s a place that I’ve been in different ways, seen different angles of and it’s been a bit inspirational, the drinking,” he tells RBMA Daily. “It has its ups and downs and everything, but I felt like it showed the human side of what goes on behind things, something that I see with all of my friends… I felt like it was kind of interweaved in the music culture. And it’s something that’s never talked about.”
For more on the album and “Show You The Way,” read an excerpt of Thundercat’s upcoming Red Bull Music Academy Daily feature here
Drunk is available February 24 via digital / CD on Brainfeeder, with the vinyl format—comprising four red 10”s housed in a lift-off box featuring photography by Eddie Alcazar and artwork by Zack Fox—following on March 10. All formats are available to preorder now via http://brainfeeder.net/thundercat. Thundercat is also set to tour internationally in support of the album, including a return performance at Coachella Music & Arts Festival.
