I have to admit, the departure from rapped to sung vocals is one I did not expect from this album, but it’s certainly a direction that works. ‘Redbone’ takes a slower pace and a more stripped-down approach to much of “Awaken”, and really showcases the album’s funky, 70s-inspired sound, retaining the kind of bass that makes you want to burst a speaker.
This theme reverberates later in ‘Redbone’, with the lyrics “stay woke” – a phrase familiar in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. There is a political edge, too – “with a gun in your hand, I’m the boogieman” – which remains an undercurrent throughout much of the album. ‘Boogieman’ follows hot on its heels, and here we see Gambino continuing to test the parameters of his vocal capabilities, with fantastic results, all the while punctuated strongly by guitar riffs. This track is a personal favourite of mine from the album – it’s joyous, vivacious, upbeat and a little funky, and it hits all the right notes. With ‘Have Some Love’, the gospel influence really comes to the fore. It’s joyous, vivacious, upbeat and a little funky I don’t think I’ve wanted to turn a Childish Gambino record up quite so window-shatteringly loud since ‘Heartbeat’: Gambino is back, and he’s back in force. This is a track which immediately demands the album be played loud, with the bass turned up to eleven – “let me in”, Glover demands, and I’m more than happy to oblige. The lengthy and dreamy intro to ‘Me and Your Mama’ – introducing the gospel-like sound which weaves throughout the album – gives way to powerful vocals, the likes of which we’ve never quite seen before from Gambino. And so, it has been with nothing short of great excitement which I have anticipated the release of his third and latest album, “Awaken, My Love!”.įrom the outset, “Awaken” does not disappoint. Comedian, actor, screenwriter – it seems there is nothing this veritable polymath can’t do, and his musical career, under the name Childish Gambino, is no less stellar. Setting aside the magic that is ‘Troy and Abed in the Morning’ and an irrepressible desire to play a university-wide game of paintball, perhaps my favourite thing to come out of that wonderful show is my awareness of the one and only Donald Glover’s existence. Ah, Community – you’ve given the world so much.
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