Thundercat announces new album & UK tour dates for April 2020

THUNDERCAT

NEW ALBUM

‘IT IS WHAT IT IS”

RELEASED

APRIL 3 – 2020

SINGLE RELEASE ‘BLACK QUALLS’ OUT NOW

(feat. Steve Lacy & Steve Arrington) [Single Version]’.

SINGLE

https://thundercat.lnk.to/it-is-what-it-is

Socials Assets:

1:1 ‘Black Qualls’ audio clip w/ album release date https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aKINQ72-8WsGptQs0u9SLztqm9NpFN7s/view

9:16 ‘Black Qualls’ audio clip w/ album release date

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vd0qrXLVujC43ZcHxqtuoQ91BAmpOXQQ/view

Thundercat is set to release his new album “It Is What It Is” on Brainfeeder Records on April 3, 2020, and shares the first music; ‘Black Qualls (feat. Steve Lacy & Steve Arrington)’. The album, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox.

“It Is What It Is”  follows his game-changing third album “Drunk” (2017). That record completed his transition from virtuoso bassist to bonafide star and cemented his reputation as a unique voice that transcends genre. “This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,” Bruner says about “It Is What It Is”. “It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at different points in life you come across places that you don’t necessarily understand… some things just aren’t meant to be understood.”

The unruly bounce of new single ‘Black Qualls’ is classic Thundercat, teaming up with Steve Lacy (The Internet) and Funk icon Steve Arrington (Slave). It’s another example of Stephen Lee Bruner’s desire to highlight the lineage of his music and pay his respects to the musicians who inspired him. Discovering Arrington’s output in his late teens, Bruner says he fell in love with his music immediately: “The tone of the bass, the way his stuff feels and moves, it resonated through my whole body.”

‘Black Qualls’ emerged from writing sessions with Lacy, whom Thundercat describes as “the physical incarnate of the Ohio Players in one person – he genuinely is a funky ass dude”. It references what it means to be a black American with a young mindset: “What it feels like to be in this position right now… the weird ins and outs, we’re talking about those feelings… Part of me knew this [track] was where Steve [Arrington] left us.”

Thundercat forms a cornerstone of the Brainfeeder label; he released “The Golden Age of Apocalypse” (2011), “Apocalypse” (2013), followed by EP “The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam” featuring the modern classic ‘Them Changes’.  He was later “at the creative epicenter” of the 21st century’s most influential hip-hop album Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”, where he won a Grammy for his collaboration on the track ‘These Walls’ before releasing his game-changing third album “Drunk” in 2017. In 2018 Thundercat and Flying Lotus composed an original score for an episode of Golden Globe and Emmy award winning TV series “Atlanta” (created and written by Donald Glover).

**Please note the single version of ‘Black Qualls’ features Steve Lacy & Steve Arrington. The album version additionally features Childish Gambino.

2020 Tour Dates:

North America 

28/02 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre

29/02 Portland, OR – PDX Jazz Festival

02/03 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo

03/03 Arcata, CA – Van Duzer Theatre

04/03 Chico, CA – Senator Theatre

06/03 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater

07/03 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

08/03 Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory North Park

10/03 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren

12/03 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre

13/03 Omaha, NE – Slowdown

14/03 Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore

15/03 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre

17/03 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre

18/03 Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre

19/03 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre

21/03 Boston, MA – House of Blues

22/03 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore

24/03 New York, NY – Webster Hall – SOLD OUT

25/03 New York, NY – Webster Hall

28/03 Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring

29/03 Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival

31/03 Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works

01/04 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel

02/04 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse

Europe

09/04 London, UK – Roundhouse

11/04 Manchester, UK – Academy

14/04 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

15/04 Paris, FR – Elysée Montmartre

17/04 Berlin, DE – Astra