Thundercat : Distracted
Why do we like Thundercat? The obvious answer is that he’s the coolest guy ever. His hair? Cool. His clothes? Cool. His bass? Cool. The way that he sings? Cool. The way he seamlessly works with everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Haim to Justice to Yo Gabba Gabba? Cool. Doing everything with a layer of unshakable confidence, including goofing off? Very cool.
If this were all that there was to Thundercat, née Stephen Lee Bruner, he’d probably be insufferable. Everyone hates a winner. But he has never shied away from the fact that beneath all the cool accoutrement is an unabashed romantic, a nerd who is still trying to get his shit together.
Distracted, his first new album in six years, is a heartbreak album. Thundercat spends the first third grappling with the struggle among friends: the electric “No More Lies” features Tame Impala‘s Kevin Parker singing how it’s better to “stay on my own / just stay home alone” before Bruner drops the hook (“Unless she wants to come back”); Lil Yachty drops a funny verse about dating woes on the funky “I Did This To Myself”; and A$AP Rocky pines about being left hanging on “Funny Friends.” Later on, Channel Tres joins the psych-dance track “This Thing We Call Love,” segueing into “ThunderWave,” a track about fleeting love featuring WILLOW.
Fittingly, Thundercat ends Distracted alone and introspective, contemplating the futility of opening up his heart (“Pozole”), dealing with anxiety (“A.D.D. Through The Roof”) and insecurity (“Great Americans”), before deciding “just breathe / it’s okay / guess it’s always meant to feel some type of way” on the closer, “You Left Without Saying Goodbye.” It’s an optimistic benediction to inspire a semblance of peace before doing it all again.
Though Thundercat can play the fuck out of the bass, his greatest strength as a musician is his sincerity. While Distracted is unlikely to permeate the cultural zeitgeist in the same way that Charli XCX’s Brat did, both albums are similar in painting their protagonist as messy but honest, ready to party but also still vulnerable to getting their heart broken.
Distracted does best to align Thundercat’s polarities. There are no cringe moments on the album, but there are plenty of nerd reference: “ThunderWave” is a Pokémon reference; the bitter “Anakin Learns His Fate” isn’t the only Star Wars reference, as Thundercat drops “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for” in “What Is Left to Say” is a late-’70s soul/R&B pastiche that comes with feathered hair, ruffled tuxedo shirt, and hazy, Vaseline-on-the-lens filter. But because Thundercat is the kind of cat who plays “St Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast” to Snoop Dogg just because he’s excited to show the hip-hop legend this jazz-rock deep cut, these references don’t come off as forced or fake: this is Thundercat. Dude is happy to put himself out there. Take it or leave it.
Ironically, in spite of its contradictions, Distracted is Thundercat’s most focused, cohesive album. Credit the times we live in, inspiring Thundercat to write an album about love and anxiety. Or maybe credit working with Greg Kurstin, a producer whose resumé boasts Adele, Sia, Beck, and Beyoncé. However you want to go, Distracted is a fantastic album, one that shows Thundercat at his best. And that’s pretty cool.
Label: Brainfeeder
Year: 2026
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Thundercat : Distracted
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