If you love a genre, you should want to see what it can do when its creative boundaries are pushed to the limit. It's a hard game to play: Often if an artist colors too far outside the lines their listeners might be left behind, afraid of change and difference. But over the course of his career charting the collisions between jazz, funk, pop, hip-hop, and electronic music, Thundercat has shown a knack for doing it right, whether on solo albums like 2013's Apocalypse or in collaborations with the likes of Vic Mensa, Kendrick Lamar, and Kamasi Washington. That knack continues on his new mini-LP The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam, which he announced abruptly last week.The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam is now out on Brainfeeder, the label that's also home to Thundercat's frequent collaborators (featured extensively here) Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington. Each of its six tracks takes the listener on a trip through Thundercat's jazzy, funky musical landscape. Songs like "Wolf and Cub"—which features contemporary jazz legend Herbie Hancock on keys—make use of musical space, letting Thundercat's vocal parts breathe in between instrumentation and his bass grooves. It will entice you and take you to new lands. It's out now, and it's streaming below, via Spotify.Follow John Hill on Twitter.
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