on 2xLP Opaque Black Vinyl

Donald Glover had an impressive run using the name Childish Gambino. Jumping from goofy, complicated backpack rap to psychedelic R&B auteur, oddball yet convincing trap-rapper to arty pop star with Grammys under his belt -- it's been quite a ride. The soundtrack to his film Bando Stone & the New World is like a trip through almost all the phases of his career, which is fitting because this is the last Gambino record. Calling on many guests -- Jorja Smith, Yeat, Amaarae, Flo Milli, Fousheé, Chlöe, and Khruangbin -- Glover stitches together a modern pop whirlwind of an album that dips into trap, smooth R&B, jangling indie pop, hyperpop-inflected hip-hop, over-stuffed mainstream pop, and rock balladry while staying true to the sound and persona he's so ably created in the past. The lyrics find him equal parts feisty and family friendly, spitting out witty boasts one second, dueting sweetly with his son Legend another. Their track "Can You Feel Me" is the emotional centerpiece of the record, with each of the Glovers getting real in very human, very heartwarming fashion. It's hard to tell how much of the record is based on the movie, but that song and a few others seem yanked straight from Glover's life. "Lithonia," a thumping hard rock ballad complete with walls of guitars and Elton John-worthy piano breakdowns, is another one. If Glover is faking the emotion here, he'd better clear some space on his bookshelf for an Oscar. The other ballads -- like the stadium-sized "Cruisin'," where he pushes his ever-improving vocals to their very limit, and the lilting '70s folk-soul-inspired "Steps Beach" -- come across like glossy, super-produced modern pop, but with the kind of heart and feeling that's often missing from his contemporaries' music. It's the same when he takes on trap tropes and makes them completely his, investing tracks like "Talk My Shit" with exciting bits of production trickery and daring lyrical twists, or when he swerves into top-notch examples of up-to-date R&B at its smoothest and best -- the Jorja Smith and Amaarae-featuring "In the Night" or the languid and lovely "No Excuses." Not content to continue to hone and perfect styles he's already attempted, Glover steps outside the lines to try out jangling, harmony-filled indie pop ("Real Love"), jarring electro-punk ("Got to Be"), very fun pop-punk ("Running Around," which features excellent work by Fousheé), and a laid-back country-rock tune ("Dadvocate") that's shockingly brotastic. He nails the first three genre exercises like a pro and does about as much as anyone could with the last. Much better is the song he does with Khruangbin, "Happy Survival," grafting his yearning background vocals on top of one of their trademark drifting grooves; unlike the country-rock diversion, this is something it might be fun to hear Glover pursue further in his next incarnation. Childish Gambino was and will remain one of the success stories of the music biz, and watching Glover grow and evolve has been a delight. Bando Stone & the New World may not be his best album -- it was always going to be impossible to dislodge "Awaken, My Love!" -- but it serves as a fitting summation of all the good-to-great music that has been released under the Gambino banner and might even give some clues as to where he's headed next.

H3@Rt$ W3re M3@Nt T0 F7¥    3:08
Lithonia    2:59
Survive    4:07
Steps Beach    3:49
Talk My Shit    3:46
Got To Be    2:56
Real Love    2:17
In The Night    3:50
Yoshinoya    3:22
Can You Feel Me    2:59
No Excuses    7:23
Cruisin'    3:58
We Are God    4:23
Running Around    2:34
Dadvocate    2:41
Happy Survival    3:23
A Place Where Love Goes    2:44