Childish Gambino isn’t done yet.
After teasing the retirement of his beloved musical moniker Childish Gambino for years, Donald Glover has finally parted ways with his alias with his final album Bando Stone and The New World.
This project finds Glover (the multi-hyphenate producer, actor, comic, and musician) at a point where he is unapologetically himself. “I’m not 25 anymore, standing in front of a boulder like, ‘This has to move,’” Glover explained in a recent interview with The New York Times. “You give what you can, but there’s beauty everywhere in every moment… you don’t have to build it. You don’t have to search for it.” This sentiment echoes throughout the album. What once was a cohesive style throughout Because of the Internet and Camp has fallen to the wayside in favor of a new, eclectic style that has been building since 3.15.20.
Gambino picks up where he left off on Atavista, a project that, to many, felt unfinished and uninspiring. Casting off the restraints of a typical album format, Atavista was a sketchbook of Gambino’s ideas. Bando Stone and The New World takes those same ideas and refines them into a 17-track project that can be understood at first listen, an expanded complete work.
The project opens with a hyper-pop track reminiscent of any number of Grimes songs. From there, Gambino explores early 2000s punk rock vibes on “Running Around” and “Dadvocate,” which could have easily included a Role Model or Conan Gray feature without much friction. He taps into a Drake-inspired flow on “Talk My Shit,” harnessing Drake-typical ad-libs, alliteration, and double entendre. My favorite moment is track 16, “Happy Survival,” where Gambino brings on Khruangbin for a ‘cosmic soul’ interlude that ties the project together.
The features list at a glance appears haphazard. Gambino historically has strayed away from feature-heavy projects. Camp and Awaken, My Love! both boast featureless tracklists. Bando Stone and The New World is a different story. Some of the more surprising guest appearances include alternative R&B favorites Amaarae, Chloe Bailey, Foushee, Jorja Smith (one of my favorite artists of 2024), Flo Milli and surprisingly Yeat, who was rumored to be on the album after pictures of him and Donald Glover surfaced last month.
Falling in line with almost every other Glover-directed project, Bando Stone and The New World is not a standalone work of art. The album is accompanied by a forthcoming film which focuses on Gambino’s journey as a musician through a post-apocalyptic world. The album serves a dual purpose: as a standalone project and the soundtrack for Gambino’s fourth major self-directed project, joining Atlanta, Swarm, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
In many ways, it seems fitting that this is Gambino’s last project. He seems to have outgrown the alter-ego that once served him. At its inception, behind the character of Childish Gambino was a 25-year-old stand-up comic trying to find a place in music. At the time of his final album, Glover, at 40, is an award-winning actor, producer, and artist. His lyricism mirrors his acceptance of the end of the moniker. He brags about his marriage, “You f*ckin’ these hoes, I’m f*ckin’ my wife,” and even features his son, Legend, on track 10, “Can You Feel Me.”
As final projects go, Bando Stone and The New World feels like the culmination of Glover’s experiences as a musician, writer, producer, director, and actor. The erratic stylistic choices mirror the randomness and creativity of Atlanta, Glover’s hit TV show. Tracks like “Survive” pay homage to the album that skyrocketed Gambino’s career, Because of the Internet, and the range of features is a nod to Glover’s way of constantly being ahead of the culture.
Listen to ‘Bando Stone and The New World’ below!