Donald Glover Surprise-Drops a New Childish Gambino Album

Courtesy of Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Now that the headline-song charts-discourse dominating Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef is over, we're likely about to see a lot of artists emerging out of the smoke to get their own rollouts back on track. First up is Donald Glover, who's been teasing new music as his alter ego Childish Gambino—well, he's always teasing new music, but it ramped up last month in April when he played some tracks on Instagram Live and told an eager fan “it's a rollout dummy.”

He kept the energy going later in the month with a second Live—dubbed Gilga Radio, named after his new production company/creative initiative—but that still didn't quite prep fans for him dropping Atavista out of the sky on the evening of Sunday May 12.

As the Gambino faithful know, Atavista is by and large a lightly revamped version of the album Glover dropped four years ago right as the pandemic kicked off, 3.15.20. The 2024 album boasts some new production arrangements, new guests like Glover's fellow ATLien Young Nudy, and, you know, actual song titles. The original project, following suit from the title, just featured a tracklist full of songs named for their timestamp in the album's cumulative runtime. As one might imagine, it's hard for say, the druggy laidback vibes of Gambino rapping about doing psilocybin alongside a slick 21 Savage verse when it's only called “12.38."

“I took that approach because I guess that's what I was going through,” Glover explained to Complex's Eric Skelton when ruminating on 3.15.20 late last year. "People are always going to want what they want, but I have to express what I'm going through. I had just lost my father, I had just had a kid, and I was going through a lot. I was having a lot of different new experiences and that's what I expressed."

That's real, and Glover's prerogative, but there was a lot of good music on 3.15.20; it's nice that it has a chance to be more widely appreciated now that it's in a more algorithm-friendly package. The core, vibey essence of the original album remains, even with new additions like the Summer Walker-assisted “Sweet Thang.” It's not quite as funk and neo-soul inspired as Awaken, My Love! nor as rap-heavy as Because the Internet, instead striking a healthy balance with warm soulful pop, a dash of electronic flair, sweet melodies and iconoclastic moments like putting the grimy Nudy on a track Glover originally made for his young children.

This will probably be a fresh listen for fairweather listeners, but hardcore Gambino fans can rest assured he isn't stopping here. A totally brand new album, Bando Stone & The New World (which will double as a soundtrack to a film of the same name), isn't far behind, as is a new tour.

Until then, enjoy the revamped Atavista, starting with the “Little Foot, Big Foot” visual co-starring Quinta Brunson below.

Originally Appeared on GQ