Exactly six years after his previous full-length, Thundercat returns with his fifth studio album, Distracted, arriving April 3rd.
The project boasts an eclectic roster of collaborators, including A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty, and a never-before-heard recording with the late Mac Miller. Much of the album took shape through an intensive creative partnership with celebrated hitmaker Greg Kurstin — whose résumé spans Adele, Paul McCartney, Sia, Beyoncé, Beck and more — alongside additional production from Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume) and The Lemon Twigs.
Distracted wrestles with the push and pull between mental overload and inward reflection. Thundercat approaches modern “advancement” with sharp irony, questioning how technology has shrunk our sense of wonder rather than stretching it. He riffs on sci-fi fantasies and youthful visions of cosmic exploration, only to contrast them with the underwhelming reality of incremental tech upgrades — devices that surveil rather than inspire, and progress that feels hollow. Beneath the humour sits a deeper frustration with the gap between the future we were sold and the one we’re living in.
While distraction has become a defining flaw of the modern attention economy, Thundercat also recognises its hidden upside. For a true eccentric, wandering focus can still spark imagination — because even in drifting off, there’s room to dream.