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The majestic strings that introduce “I Love Louis Cole,” for example, blend right into special guest Louis Cole’s uptempo drumbeat, an eruption of punk energy that sits in perfect alignment with the leisure-strolling funk of the next track, “Black Qualls,” not to mention Cole’s celestial keyboard swells that lift the beat up and send it soaring heavenward. In terms of the impact of the record as a complete listening experience, the payoff is tremendous. On It Is What It Is, Bruner brings ’70s-style R&B balladeering (“Overseas,” “How I Feel”) and fusion (“Interstellar Love,” “How Sway”) to the forefront as other styles recede into supportive roles. The crucial difference this time is that he shoehorns those influences into a startlingly smooth flow that somehow accommodates dazzling technical proficiency. Much like on his other output, Bruner once again draws freely from the wells of funk, soul, disco, jazz, rock, hip-hop and lo-fi experimentation. It’s not that It Is What It Is lacks variety.
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That makes it all the more remarkable that Bruner has decided to rein in his wanderlust on his fourth solo LP, It Is What It Is. Listening to a player with a range that rivals the late bass giant Jaco Pastorius-and, arguably, the chops to match-part of the appeal comes from just watching the ideas roam free. On previous Thundercat albums, he revelled in his own zaniness, but he also showed a knack for going right to the edge of incoherence while maintaining just enough of a consistent thread. While the cat noises and fart sounds on his last album, 2017’s Drunk, offended one prominent music critic so much he nearly crashed his car in a fit of frustration, Bruner didn’t actually need to tame his prodigious appetite for variety. Starting with his 2011 solo debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse, he’s been content to zigzag along, his solo albums an exercise in carefree genre-bending. Up until now, though, Bruner hasn’t really bothered to do that. has choices to make as far as what directions to pursue when they sit down to make their own music. Anyone who has enough fluency to go from playing with Suicidal Tendencies to Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, etc. Bassist Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, has played in such a variety of musical settings that he’s always had an abundance of styles at his fast-moving fingertips. Trying Not To Die (feat.Sometimes, versatility can become a limitation of its own. whie Genevieve Artadi and acclaimed jazz pianist and experimental composer Brad Mehldau pop up on “When You’re Ugly” and “Real Life”.Ģ. Thundercat contributes lead vocals to a track “Tunnels In The Air”. “But it all comes back to my mission to create deep feelings through music." "A lot of it is little thoughts, that I made into big songs… blasts of inspiration that I was lucky enough to receive,” Cole says of the record. "In fact, Flying Lotus asked Dennis if I would want to release something on Brainfeeder before he even asked me.” “Dennis bridged the gap… he was the link," says Cole. Cole was introduced to the label founder by Dennis Hamm - keyboard player in Thundercat’s live band. It's Cole's third album and his debut on FlyLo's Brainfeeder label.