![]() There’s a horrible, looming silliness to everything Donald Glover does. Even at its best the album is like watching Hamlet performed by Kermit the Frog. Structure and delivery is where it all falls down. The album boasts a lush, colourful sound, drawing from elements of funk and soul to create an impressively modern vibe. Childish Gambino, I’m told, has trod new musical ground with this release, and in terms of instrumentation and production I like it. “Awaken, My Love!” alternates between being enjoyable and a massive windup. Childish Gambino may well be attempting to mature as an artist, but if “Awaken, My Love!” is anything to go by, his temperament is better suited to hip-hop. These fatal flaws ultimately outdo all the good work on show here. “Redbone”, far and away the best song here, shows that having structural limitations can go a long way, yet is inexplicably followed by “California”, which has a strong lead in the race for ‘Most Irritating Track of 2016.’ The amount of vocal effects is totally obnoxious, and it winds up being a massive disservice to Gambino as a singer. Some cuts, such as “Terrified”, threaten to be good songs, before failing to develop on an initial interesting idea and halting any sense of progression. The record attempts to push boundaries of form and structure, without actually proposing an alternative to the norm. ![]() Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a struggle to take seriously if it actually contained more than a handful of proper songs. ![]() Unfortunately, Awaken sounds like a meme that has come to life. I don’t doubt Gambino’s intentions: I’m sure he and Ludwig Göransson (Glover’s long-time collaborator) strived to create a genuine soul album, and they do admittedly hit a lot of the right notes on a technical level. It’s vibrant, colourful, and spectacularly produced, but seriously lacking in enduring substance. For all of its positives, Awaken is utterly impossible to take seriously. The album’s aesthetic is gorgeous, but the overall sound simply cannot escape Gambino’s eccentricity. “Awaken, My Love!” is a considerable change of direction, shifting his focus from hip-hop to funk and soul, and the transformation is as jarring as it is impressive. Childish Gambino is popular, no question, but his records have hardly hit universal acclaim. However, whilst his work as an actor is generally celebrated, Glover’s musical career hasn’t seen the same rate of success. His tally of talents is indisputable, and he will likely enjoy a long, prosperous career in the entertainment industry. Nice smooth slice of modern soul.Notoriously known for his comedic charisma and kooky personality, Donald Glover is one super-popular individual. The single Redbone is probably my favorite. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing where he goes from here. These are only minor things though, and they’re not necessarily bad things, they just stand out to me. Also it seems like he might be trying too hard to make the music sound like Funkadelic, meaning there’s a bit of a lack of originality in some spots. Maybe some shifting in the track listing would’ve fixed this. ![]() My only criticisms are that I feel like the album doesn’t flow as a whole entirely well, it’s a bit sporadic. There’s so much competition in hip hop, not much in funk these days so now he can stand out as an original. I like some of his earlier stuff but this is a complete departure and for the better. When I heard first him belting from the depths of his soul in the first song I was knocked back in my seat. I just finally got around to checking this out and I like it! The songs are great and I had no idea he had that voice.
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