Considering the travesty that 2016 has been so far, the fact that we have a new album from Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino to bring it to a close is undoubtedly a cause for celebration.
After Gambino’s debut album, Camp, became a sleeper hit and garnered a cult following in 2011, high hopes were placed on his follow up a couple of years later, Because the Internet. The album was well received – achieving both critical acclaim and success commercially – as well as being surrounded by a tumultuous fanfare, a 72-page accompanying script and a short film to boot. The most recent release prior to Awaken, My Love was the combined STN MTN mixtape and Kauai EP in 2014, which demonstrated an impressive proficiency in both more conventional hip hop and upbeat R&B respectively.
Having thus established a reputation as one of the most excitingly experimental and versatile musicians on the scene, and arguably more worthy of his title as an ‘artist’ than some of his peers, is his latest album worth getting out of bed for?
The opening number, ‘Me And Your Mama’, which has been marketed as the album’s lead single, is a relatively slow burner, drawing the listener in before unveiling what is truly a raw and earthy number, with catchy chords and soulful vocals akin to the rock of the late Prince. Glover then gloriously combines a Michael Jackson-esque spoken word style in his verses, along with a James Brown inspired hook in the feel good ‘Have Some Love’ and the short but energising ‘Riot’.
A couple of late contenders for the recent Ghostbusters remake come in the form of ‘Boogieman’ – which sounds like it’s straight from a George Clinton jam session – and the slow and synthy ‘Zombie’. The funk continues in the beach bar vibes of ‘California’ and the bluesy pair of the album’s second single, ‘Redbone’ and ‘Baby Boy’. The latter is a hard hitting and beautiful demonstration of Glover’s vocal range, really striking a chord with the listener, while also including a sporadic nod to the familiar narrative voice which appeared on Camp.
A welcome smooth guitar accompaniment comes to the fore both in the suitably haunting and atmospheric ‘Terrified’ and the instrumental, yet ethereally psychedelic ‘The Night Me And Your Mama Met’, easing you into the album’s final number, ‘Stand Tall’. The delicate twanging of the guitar, combines deliciously with the uplifting nature of the keyboard and vocals, to make this song, in particular, a hugely enjoyable and easy listening track.
‘Stand Tall’ is representative of this record more widely, immediately resonating with the soul, and capturing the different ebbs and flows of the signature Gambino sound we’ve all grown to love. Awaken, My Love is an album that further enhances Donald Glover as possessing one of the most interesting and innovative sounds out there, and I implore you to experience this waking dream.
Words by Jonno Mack