Thundercat - Distracted (Vinyl)

Six years to the date after his last LP, Thundercat releases his fifth studio album, Distracted, via Brainfeeder with contributions from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty and a previously unreleased collaboration with the dearly departed Mac Miller.

Distracted was primarily created in close collaboration with a new creative partner for Thundercat - the superproducer Greg Kurstin, known for his work with some of the biggest names in pop like Adele, Paul McCartney, Sia, Beyoncé, Beck and more - with additional production turns on the record from Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume), and The Lemon Twigs.

Distracted vividly captures the tension between overstimulation and introspection. Thundercat is deeply skeptical of technological “progress,” especially the way it’s narrowed our collective imagination instead of expanding it. He jokes about Star Trek and childhood dreams of space travel, then pivots to the anticlimax of reality: drones without lasers, phones that only upgrade cameras, innovation reduced to spying and access. The disappointment isn’t just about gadgets; it’s about what we were promised versus what we got.

The drawbacks of distraction are evident in today’s attention (deficit) economy, but a true idiosyncratic like Thundercat can identify the ways in which it can be used to one’s advantage. You can’t spell ‘daydreams’ without ‘dreams,’ after all.

“Sometimes you need to be distracted to focus in a different way,” Thundercat declares.

Red vinyl LP housed in a 3mm spined sleeve with printed inner sleeve and poster insert. Artwork and photography by Neil Krug.

Limited edition clear/black marbled “smoke effect” vinyl LP housed in a 3mm spined sleeve with printed inner sleeve and poster insert. Artwork and photography by Neil Krug.

Tracklist:
SIDE A
A1. Candlelight
A2. No More Lies (feat. Tame Impala)
A3. She Knows Too Much (feat. Mac Miller)
A4. I Did This To Myself (feat. Lil Yachty)
A5. Funny Friends (feat. A$AP Rocky)
A6. What Is Left To Say
A7. I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time
SIDE B
B1. Anakin Learns His Fate
B2. Walking on the Moon
B3. This Thing We Call Love (feat. Channel Tres)
B4. ThunderWave (feat. WILLOW)
B5. Pozole
B6. A.D.D. Through the Roof
B7. Great Americans
B8. You Left Without Saying Goodbye