Six years to the date of his last LP, Thundercat will release his fifth studio album, Distracted, coming out April 3rd via Brainfeeder. The new album features contributions from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, 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.

These types of awkward, digitally-influenced situations, typical of 21st century socialization, lie at the heart of Distracted. Falling somewhere between Drunk’s frenzied look at modern life and It Is What It Is’s solemn heartbreak, Distracted is Thundercat finding a comfortable space for himself in the current era. Rather than condemn the current moment, the album sifts through it, addressing the ways distraction can be both a hindrance and a form of healing.

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.

What he ultimately wants listeners to take from Distracted is disarmingly simple: “Just enjoy it and have fun and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward.” In an era that demands constant commentary, Thundercat offers something quieter and, in its own way, more radical. He gives permission to be confused. To be tired. To be, well, distracted — and still make something beautiful out of the noise[info sheet from distr.]