Childish Gambino – 3:15:20
(Wolf+Rothstein / Liberator Music)
Reviewed by Sam Smith.
It has been over three years since Childish Gambino let loose on the world his p-funk project Awaken, My Love! In the years following, Donald Glover has toured, dropped a few singles, and teased fans about the prospects of another Gambino record. Now, that record has finally been released and it is a goodie.
3.15.20 is named after the day the album briefly appeared online as an endless streaming loop (released under the name “Donald Glover Presents:”). It then mysteriously disappeared before finally reappearing in an official capacity a week later under the Childish Gambino moniker. Gambino likes to do things out of the box and the rollout of this record was no different with mystery and suspense key elements of how he wanted his fans to receive the album.
Musically, if his last album drew from legends such as Sly Stone and George Clinton, 3.15.20 draws very much from Prince. Out goes the funk and in comes the pop with tracks such as ‘Algorhythm’ – one of the few tracks to actually have a song title – and ‘19.10’ sounding as if they could have been written by the purple man himself.
However, it is not just about pop. There are moments of experimental intrigue on this record, with Gambino exploring his musical capacity as an artist to the fullest. ‘12.38’ recalls a trap sound more than anything and indeed features Atlanta trap king 21 Savage, while ‘47.48’ is an Innervisions-era Stevie Wonder-esque keyboard-driven track.
‘32.22’ and ‘39.28’ are tracks where Gambino sounds the most out-there he has arguably ever sounded, while ‘24.19’ is a soul ballad that I have no doubt will see many listeners breaking down in tears to. Hey, there is even room for Ariana Grande on ‘Time’ in what on the whole conjures up an 80s R&B pastiche.
After the great success that was Awaken, My Love!, an album that truly opened up Gambino to a mass audience, this follow up is a solid return. He avoided remaining in the p-funk lane which was a good decision and with 3.15.20 has turned in an album that although at times feels disjointed has plenty of variety and some great tracks.
The fact most of the songs are named after their timestamp is a bit annoying when it comes to knowing what you are listening to, but this is a mere distraction worth putting up with given the material on display.
There are some big moments on 3.15.20 and when they hit, they hit hard, and that is Gambino in a nutshell. He might not have the song writing chops of a Prince or a Wonder or a Jackson, but he sure knows how to get the best out of himself musically as evidenced on this record.
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