On his latest release, Childish Gambino (actor Donald Glover’s musical pseudonym) pays homage to funk, soul, R&B and everything in between. Glover’s psychedelic influences and fine production skills make “Awaken, My Love!” his most impressive album to date.

Soft synthesisers open the album’s first track ‘Me and Your Mama’, before Glover erupts into howling pronouncements of frustrated love over a soaring gospel choir. Backed by manic laughter and a screeching electric guitar, the song evokes an emotional intensity which Glover continues to summon throughout the record. The single ‘Redbone’ marks another towering highlight. Glover, singing falsetto, has all the sound and sexuality of Prince, oozing soul across a driving synthesised slap-bass and twinkling glockenspiel. Glover’s double-edged lyrics in ‘Redbone’ will sound familiar to fans of his nerd-rap style, as creepily sexual lines are set incongruously against childlike imagery: “you want to make it right, but now it’s too late/my peanut butter jelly cake with kool aid”.

"Glover has all the sound and sexuality of Prince"

The following track, ‘California’, stumbles as the album’s lowest point, with Glover telling an all-too-familiar tale of a fall from grace in the state of California. The vocals are irritatingly cartoonish, with Glover delivering his words Caribbean-style over upbeat flutes and soft bass lines. However, although the track may be infuriating to some, its humorous sound may appeal to those drawn to the nerdy style of Gambino’s previous album, Because the Internet.  Although ‘California’ misses the mark in its attempt to capture unexpected optimism against a rock-bottom existence, the following track, ‘Terrified’, is far more haunting and impressive. ‘Terrified’ provides an antithesis to the silliness of ‘California’, with a darker mood captured by creepy organ melodies and an eerie outro sung by eight-year old actor JD McCrary that ranks as the album’s stand-out vocal performance. However, despite strong moments like ‘Terrified’, Glover occasionally slips from inspiration into imitation, as tracks like ‘Have Some Love’ and ‘Baby Boy’ sound like rip-offs of the album’s funk influences. The record’s fundamental flaw is that its lyrics and instrumentation often sound too familiar and recycled, devolving into a parody of the sounds of Sly and the Family Stone and George Clinton rather than a homage.

Review: J Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only

The album closes with ‘The Night Me and Your Mama Met’ and ‘Stand Tall’. The former, an instrumental, combines scratching guitar licks and wordless choir vocals to create a harmonious love song which explodes midway through with stunning guitar riffs from Gary Clark Jr. ‘Stand Tall’, a parental reminder to follow one’s dreams, may be thought of as a microcosm for the whole album; it’s message is somewhat hackneyed and its melodies familiar, but its composition is immaculate and its delivery superb. A medley of flutes, choirs, synthesisers, auto-tuned vocals and guitars  are arranged into a sprawling and eccentric soundscape, with Glover screaming emotional bursts that never seem indulgent or misplaced. These tracks prove that although he may draw heavy inspiration from his idols, Childish Gambino is still capable of producing great music. “Awaken, My Love!” finishes abruptly, and despite its flaws leaves its listeners with the mark of a truly great album: the feeling of an experience and a desire for more