CHILDISH GAMBINO – ‘BANDO STONE & THE NEW WORLD’

BY JANIN AYALA FELIX | JULY 19, 2024 | ALBUMS

Donald Glover’s final album under the Childish Gambino moniker, Bando Stone & The New World, feels more like a swan song to the persona than a definitive conclusion to his music career. In what may be his last project as Gambino, Glover takes a bold swing, delivering an album that serves both as a standalone work and as the soundtrack to his upcoming post-apocalyptic film of the same name. Like much of his creative output, Bando Stone blurs the lines between art forms, bringing together music, narrative, and cinema in a way only Glover could pull off.

But while the album is ambitious, threading vocal snippets from the film’s actors into the tracks to create an immersive experience, it sometimes suffers from feeling more like a score than a fully realized record. That tension—between the auditory and the cinematic, between the music and the movie—is both the album’s strength and its limitation.

A Narrative Approach, à la Gambino

Much like 2013’s Because the Internet, Bando Stone & The New World uses its album format to tell a story. While Because the Internet crafted its narrative with a cryptic, digital-age commentary, this time, Glover takes us to a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape. The songs are tied together not just by sound but by a dystopian narrative that mirrors the themes of survival and disillusionment found in the movie. This creates a compelling audio-visual fusion, but it also means that many tracks feel like they’re holding back, waiting for the accompanying visuals to complete them.

The Standouts: Where Gambino Shines

When Glover hits the mark, he reminds us why he’s one of the most dynamic voices in music today. The album opener, “Hearts Were Meant to Fly,” featuring Amaarae, kicks things off with an epic flair. The track’s industrial, pulsating production feels heavily influenced by Kanye West’s Yeezus era—bold, experimental, and grand in scope. Amaarae’s soaring vocals inject a vibrant energy that feels larger than life, setting the tone for the world Glover builds.

“Lithonia” is another standout. A sludgy, alt-rock ballad with melancholic piano passages, it showcases Glover in a more vulnerable, introspective space. He narrates the disillusionment of a character navigating a bleak landscape, and the brooding atmosphere taps into the grunge-inspired, emotional depths that Gambino has only hinted at before.

“Steps Beach” brings a more acoustic, singer-songwriter vibe to the mix. The track feels looser, more meandering in its storytelling, but Glover’s gift for blending introspection with narrative shines through here. It’s a refreshing change of pace amidst the album’s darker, heavier moments.

However, “Real Love,” while competently executed, feels more like a formulaic love song than a product of Glover’s usual wit and satire. Lacking the layers of irony or complexity typically present in his love-centric tracks, it’s a rare moment where Gambino feels more conventional than cutting-edge.

Ambitious but Incomplete?

Where Bando Stone falters is in its effort to serve two masters—both the album listener and the moviegoer. Tracks like “We Are God” and “Cruisin’” fall into the trap of feeling more like background music to a scene rather than a fully developed song. They lack the standalone punch that made previous Gambino tracks, even the most experimental ones, feel memorable on their own. In fact, several moments on the album seem to be holding out for the visuals that the film will provide, leaving the listener with a sense that they’re only experiencing part of the story.

Final Verdict: An Ambitious, Cinematic Send-Off

In the end, Bando Stone & The New World is a fitting farewell for Childish Gambino—ambitious, multifaceted, and unapologetically cinematic. While not every track will stand the test of time on its own, there are flashes of brilliance that remind us why Glover has remained such a captivating and unpredictable figure in the music world. Whether Bando Stone will truly be his final project as Gambino remains to be seen, but it’s a bold and challenging offering that feels like the closing of one chapter—and the potential beginning of another.

For those willing to dive into the full audio-visual experience, the album will likely gain more depth and clarity when paired with its film counterpart. But as it stands, Bando Stone & The New World is a complex, imperfect farewell to Childish Gambino, and an intriguing glimpse of whatever evolution may lie ahead for Donald Glover.

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