Taking Time to Appreciate Thundercat "Them Changes" ft. Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington & Dennis Hamm

Thundercat, you buttery motherf*cker. When you, Flying Lotus & Kamasi Washington collaborate there's absolutely nothing like it. You guys take us to a special place through your music. Because of it, the craft needs to be admired. The direction needs praise and the music damn sure warrants love. And I don't know of a slicker, more deserving song than Them Changes.

I love Them changes and I've never stopped loving Them Changes. The immediate smooth ride of sampled drums from The Isley Brothers' instantly recognizable classic Footsteps in the Dark bring the laid-back grooves, while still existing in a jazzy, funky soulful hip-hop space. The effervescent closed hi-hat and jolting drums have a certain flare to them. The feeling is something that has to be felt through the music, and all I can say is it feels fantastic. It's the same excitement, inner celebration, pride and natural groove I had that mirrors what I experience living and listening to J Dilla's rework of the same sample on Won't Do. It's a beautiful thing. Them Changes immediately blends so many genres and pulls from so many different sources, eras and feelings that I believe it can sound familiar and be nostalgic for anyone.

Thundercat must have extra fingers or something because his playing is inhuman here. His chords are slithery. Hearing the sliding from string to string I believe gives his playing texture. That sliding gave me a jolt of anticipation mid song. Thundercat's custom 6-string maple neck and body bass (that Lotus prefers) shuffles in a "bright tone" that I've come to fully love living with To Pimp A Butterfly nearly every day. But the part that drops my stomach every time I hear it is that baseline. Thunder's baseline is wavy, funky and intergalactic. The way he makes it bend playing through a moogerfooger envelope filter truly does remind me of a snake. His playing moves in a coily type of way with a very elastic sound. I love it. There's nothing like it in today's musical space. I swear it continues the interstellar voyage of Parliament. It's killer.

The dashes of synths thrown in by Flying Lotus (as well as his partially uncredited artistic decisions) completely alter the nuances of Them Changes. FlyLo's almost undetectable synths give Them Changes a shadowy atmosphere that is later exposed to glimpses of light. Those shadows speak to the break-up Thundercat went through at the time, as well as a personal connection for me to The Beyond/Where Giants Roam's cover art. Kamasi Washington, on the other hand, nearly speaks as loudly as Thundercat's vocals. Kamasi's sax emits a gorgeous jazzy language of wallowing that he ends with a flawless, yet crazy booming playing style displaying a juxtaposition to everything that's been said. Kamasi Washington's playing is so beautiful. Again it's a sound I've come to completely love with the damage he did on TPAB. Like with Dot's classic, he leaves his mark on this track. And so does the final piece to the production puzzle, Dennis Hamm.

If I had to describe how I heard Hamm's keys, I'd have to say they were like the highest level of playing that could come out of an improv jam session taking place in a ragtime musical space. His keys literally dance around Thundercat's vocals but still highlight the high notes he hits or emphasizes when he drops off lower notes with more dour lyrics about the way he's feeling. It's outstanding. Them Changes is a song of astonishment to me, the highest level of live instrumentation. The decisions of Flying Lotus are bursting through every nook and cranny of the song. There's a boom of black excellence in the music. Moments in the song give me chills and some offer up cheers with an overall space of freedom to feel something. Thundercat needs to sing more because when he sings his truths do a whole lot. I feel lucky to have these guys in the musical era I'm growing up in. And I'm confident that all it will take is one listen for y'all to feel the same way I do.

Watch the Them Changes visuals below.

Photo Creds: soundcloud.com/noisey.vice.com