

Then we finally hit the least impressive song with 35.31. While the mixing isn’t quite up to the transcendent standard of the album that inspired it, the assortment of drums, chants and distorted vocals make this a deeply immersive track that gets better with each listen.
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Glover draws from the best of the 2010s again with 32.22, in which he goes full Yeezus for an abrasive album highlight that sounds like his own take on Kanye West’s Black Skinhead. This proves that while Glover is a bit of a magpie, he’s more than capable of adopting an established style and making it his own. The vocals, against some wonderfully-placed strings, are reminiscent of Frank Ocean’s on Nikes, and are just as soothing as nearly anything you’d find on Blonde. It’s more the vibe of the song as a whole that captures this rather than its lyrics, but the hook “To be beautiful is to be hunted” is still super catchy, and Glover’s vocals are on top form.Ģ4.19continues the quality with a song that sounds a lot like it could fit as the final track, but is really only the halfway point. This is the coda – or at least a turning point – in Glover’s career as a musician, taking place in the midst of a global crisis. There’s again a hint of sadness to the melody here, but no other track sums up the emotions this project carries as well as this one. The beat on the next track, 19.10, is ridiculously good and makes it near impossible to sit still while listening. Glover’s marriage of his two past styles, along with his coordination of two other contrasting artists makes for a beautifully diverse collection of sounds and themes.Īnd it only gets better. Initially, this track feels like it could’ve been ripped straight from Because The Internet, before showcasing elements of “Awaken, My Love!”. The next major features on 3.15.20are 21 Savage and Kadhja Bonet on 12.38. The backing vocals are amazing too as we’re treated to some rich, gospel-esque harmonies against composer Ludwig Goransson’s instrumentals. The two complement each other extremely well, with Gambino channelling MJ’s Man In The Mirror in a more melancholy fashion while Grande provides some uplifting hooks. This is also one of the only tracks since Glover’s Because The Internet days to feature him rapping, and overall makes for an excellent combination of his many strengths.Īlgorhythm ends with a dissonance of various noises that gradually come together to lead into Time, featuring uncredited but instantly recognisable vocals from Ariana Grande. The pounding drums and distorted vocals – both of which are perennial throughout the album – transport listeners to somewhere bizarre and unique. The song already sounded great as a muffled concert recording, so hearing Glover and DJ Dahi’s production in all its clean, studio glory at long last is a blessing. Once the initiation is complete, we’re thrown into Algorythm, which Gambino previously performed live as part of his This Is America tour. The opening track, 0.00, doesn’t really work as a standalone song, as all it really has is some ambient vocals echoing the words “We are”, but it makes for a good tone-setter that eases listeners into the album and tunes their ears to the sounds that follow it. It collects a dozen new songs adding up to nearly an hour of new content that builds off the sound of “Awaken, My Love!”while injecting the tropical flavours present in 2018’s Summer Pack EP to make for some truly astounding listening.Īll but two of the songs on 3.15.20are unnamed, instead referred to by their timestamp. The new album, 3.15.20, first appeared online via the website, where it streamed for twelve hours before going silent ahead of the official release on Spotify a week later. All eyes have been on Glover since he dropped his hit single This Is America in 2018, which saw another shift in style, and two years later we’ve finally got our hands on his swan song under the Childish Gambino name. These were followed by two studio albums, including the acclaimed Because The Internet, before Gambino veered away from rap with his R&B-infused EP Kauai and subsequent psychedelic masterpiece “Awaken, My Love!”.

Starting off by releasing rap mixtapes online – under a persona created by a Wu-Tang Clan name generator, no less – his work was known for witty lyricism that weaved in his prowess as a comedian. Donald Glover puts the Childish Gambino moniker to restĭonald Glover has had an interesting career in music to say the very least.
