Thundercat will roar back on April 3 with his fifth album, Distracted, which will arrive exactly six years since its predecessor, It Is What It Is. The Greg Kurstin-produced project is led by first single “I Did This to Myself,” which features Lil Yachty.
Other high profile guests on the Brainfeeder album include A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Channel Tres and Thundercat’s close friend, the late Mac Miller, who appears on the previously unreleased “She Knows Too Much.”
“I don’t know if I was going for sound as compared to just enjoying the process,” Thundercat says of the album. “It was not being afraid of the unknown for me. Something new and something different.” Reflecting on the transition from It Is What It Is to Distracted, he offers, “I don’t think the heartbreak ever stopped. If it ain’t a girl, if it ain’t taxes, it’s World War III. If it ain’t World War III, it’s a new update to the phone.”
Thundercat’s trademark sense of humor and love for nerd-leaning pop culture is evident on several of the song titles, which include “Anakin Learns His Fat,” “Pozole” and “A.D.D. Through the Roof.”
It Is What It Is was Thundercat’s first to dent the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 when it debuted at No. 38 in 2020. He’s since appeared on tracks with Silk Sonic, Tame Impala, Justice, Kaytranada, Gorillaz, Remi Wolf and DOMI and JD BECK.
Thundercat will tour Europe and the U.K. in March and will announce additional North American dates soon.
Here is the track list for Distracted:
1. Candlelight
2. No More Lies (feat. Tame Impala)
3. She Knows Too Much (feat. Mac Miller)
4. I Did This To Myself (feat. Lil Yachty)
5. Funny Friends (feat. A$AP Rocky)
6. What Is Left to Say
7. I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time
8. Anakin Learns His Fat
9. Walking on the Moon
10. This Thing We Call Love (feat. Channel Tres)
11. ThunderWave (feat. WILLOW)
12. Pozole
13. A.D.D. Through the Roof
14. Great Americans
15. You Left Without Saying Goodbye