32-year-old multi-genre bassist Stephen Bruner has achieved much in the twenty odd years he has been professionally immersed in the business of making music. At 15 he was a member of 90’s boyband No Curfew, contributing to their overseas chart success in Germany before leaving to join legendary Los Angeles punk band Suicidal Tendencies at the tender age of 16. By his early 20’s he was a highly sought after session musician heralded for his contribution to Erykah Badu’s 2008 masterwork New Amerykah. His biggest success came in early 2016 winning a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song “These Walls” from Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 ground-breaking To Pimp A Butterfly album. By that time Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, was already a seasoned industry professional having released two solo records in as many years from 2011 to 2013. Earlier this year Bruner released his third and most challenging work to date, 2017s Drunk. By the sounds of it, Bruner may have locked himself in a room and listened to nothing but the strange and intricate melodies of ‘70’s prog rockers Gentle Giant along with the early works of 10CC and their arty experimental offshoot Godley & Crème before tackling his latest opus. Add to that the odd and unexpected ingredient of MOR yacht rockers Michael MacDonald and Kenny Loggins (the song writing duo behind 1978’s million-dollar “What A Fool Believes” single from the Doobie Brothers 40 year old Minute By Minute record) and there you have it, pure genius. One of the most intriguing albums of 2017!
Rating 8.5/10
